Feel the rain on your skin
by No longer using accound
Summary: Taylor promised her mum she wouldn't date until she was eighteen, she didn't promise she wouldn't fall in love. Taylor's mum dead and Troy is making it very hard for her to honour her promise. TRAYLOR 1st story R&R please
1. Just Because

_My first Story EVER, so please read and review critically not meanly and let know what you think. I don't own any of the HSM characters, I just own the plot._

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_Feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you. _No truer words were ever spoken; no one can feel that rain for you. No no-one can explain just how soft and sensuous those drops of water feel against my brown skin. Natasha Bedingfeild was right, and that's why I loved that song. It meant something more than just a few words against a background tune. I had a depth that seemed much beyond my understanding and my years. I happen to like things I don't understand; things that keep me thinking and keep my mind racing. An idle mind was never very becoming in my opinion. But that's just my opinion; I have an opinion on many things my most passionate being my religion and my God, my Jesus. Who has helped me through just about everything that I have faced or will face or anything in-between.

But then there was Troy. Troy Bolton, he made my mind race and I didn't understand him, I still can't. I haven't figured him out and I don't think I ever will, sometimes I don't think I want to but still, still I continue to love him and have done for the last four years. Here how he managed to let me share my heart which so rightfully (and still does) belonged to Jesus with him. Here's how he made me compromise.

_Four Years Ago…_

It was the first week back to school after the summer holidays. Everyone in East high was sporting their newly acquired darker shades of Brown, White, Mocha, Caramel and Bronze. I, Taylor Mckessie walked through the doors confidently, sure I wasn't popular but I wasn't afraid either. I smiled at everyone, those who I did and didn't know, it's just who I was I was happy. Sure the last year wasn't the best year for me having lost my mother but my heart was still beating and I was still as determined as ever to live my life. Besides that no matter what this year held for me, I had my Jesus who had gotten me through the pain of loosing my mother. The there was my cousin Zeke who liked playing my older brother and My Dad who was well my Dad.

"Taylor!" I heard someone call; it was a male voice I turned around trying to figure out where it came from.

"Taylor!" I heard again , it was coming from my right. I smiled when I recognized it was Zeke was smiling at me from his locker. He was surrounded by his Basketball team, I inwardly groaned before approaching him, he _knew_ I didn't want to be surrounded by his friends. Not this early in the morning anyway, but I smiled and walked over anyone.

"Hey Z" I said hugging him, "did you want something coz I really need to go to my locker before homeroom" I asked "Hey guys" I added addressing the rest of his friends who in return nodded and grunted their own versions of hello.

"Oh no, I was just making sure you coo… are you?" He asked leaning forward to examine my face as though I was ill. I chuckled at his ridiculous behaviour and patted his shoulder.

"Yes Z, I am and I will be when you ask me later on at lunch and I will be when you ask me after school, seriously I'm cool now will you please relax" I reassured him, I knew he was just trying to be caring but it was beginning to get irritating.

"okay, okay" He held up his hand defensively "just making sure… you know you don't have to be here if you don't feel up to it" He whispered, I smiled

"It's okay Z seriously, I lost my mum I know but I promised her I'd live life and I can't do that if you keep reminding me of that"

"I know, I just… okay I'll let you go but call me if you need anything!" He said as I begun to walk away

"We both know you can't use cells in school!" I said laughing as I heard him sigh

"Oh I forget you're a nerd!" He playfully replied as I disappeared in to the crowds searching for my locker. It was going to be a good day, that's if I make it to Home room on time I thought. I sped up.

"Sorry I'm late! " I breathed out just as the bell went, scanning the room for a spare seat. This why you should never be late, you don't get to choose. I spotted on in the corner and smiled thanking God that I didn't have to sit next to someone I wasn't particularly well acquainted with. I smiled at Gabriella as I made my over to the seat.

"Don't let it happen again Miss. Mckessie" I heard Mr Smith say from his chair.

"OKAY!, now class, seeing as this is your senior year and all, the principle wants to spice it up a bit and this project will count towards your final mark so make sure you approach it with an open mind" the class grunted as they heard the word project, It was only the first day and already we had a project! WOW!

"Now as I was saying, you have one month to complete and hand in a final project" He said as he handed each and every one of us disposable cameras. We all started looking around in confusion

"You guys are going to spend the next month with a partner preparing and presenting a project complete with pictures hence the cameras and this project will be about you getting to know each other. Your partners have been pre-selected and each week you will be given a different topic in homeroom to discuss with your partner and present on them at the end of the month, hopefully all of you will learn something useful, some life skills and maybe we can integrate a bit more rather than stay with in our cliques all the time. Your partners will definitely surprise many of you"

This is going to be interesting, I thought. I like it.

"Okay lets get started! Once you know who your partner is you will change seats to sit next to them and this will be your seat for the rest of the month!" little did we know we would remain in these seats for the rest of the year, well many of us would. "So Sharpay and Ezekiel, Kelsi and Ryan, Chad and Gabriella…."

This went on as everyone got up and swapped to their allocated seats. I caught Gabriella's eye as she nervously made her way over to he who was Chad Danforth. I laughed knowing Gabby had had the biggest crush on him since I can remember. She sat down politely in the seat next to him smiling as she began to make small conversation. What they conversed about I really don't know, I'd find out later at the Decathlon meeting I thought. I waited patiently for my name to be called out.

"…Taylor and Troy" Mr. Smith said WHAT! I looked around and found Troy smiling at me from the back row. I. me… ME! My thoughts getting louder in my head; ME! Church attending, law abiding citizen, straight A student was going to be partnered with Troy Bolton. I wasn't trying to sound conceited or arrogant or anything else that was in any way rude or condescending, I was just scared, not to mention scared to admit I was scared. I told you liked things that made think, _this_ was going to make me think, it already was.

I gathered my things as frantically raced through my mind whilst I made my way over to Troy. Troy. Troy. Troy Bolton, Basketball Team captain, not to mention your average tear away teen. Troy was bad and I knew from the mischievous smile on his face this project was definitely going to be interesting. I sat down next to him and smoothed down my yellow maxi dress, a bad habit I'd acquired whenever I got nervous. He must have noticed because that's when he chose to talk.

"Don't worry, I don't bite" he whispered into my ear causing me to turn and face his piercing blue eyes. Why couldn't he be like everyone else and say hello, how are you? I thought. Oh great, he had to be the one to read me like a book. In the 17 years I'd known him and seen him the only time I'd talked to him was whenever I had to, like REALLY had to, or when I said hey if he was with Zeke, like this morning and even then I didn't say his name. Yes this was definitely going to be an interesting project.

"I didn't think you did" I said back calmly after a while whilst returning the favour of studying his face just because he was studying mine. Just because, I'd never been a _just because_ person, I did things for a reason yet my reason for this was _just because_. I'm probably just tired I thought lying to myself and promising I'd figure out a just reason for staring at him so intensely later, even though I knew I wouldn't and the reason was _just because._

Taking in those searching eyes for a few more moments I knew he was looking for something; I could see him searching my soul, what for? I didn't know. I didn't even know how he'd managed to find my soul, I just knew he was searching my soul for something and his intense stare was scaring me, except I wasn't scared because I, Taylor Anne Mckessie feared no one but God… and at this moment those deep searching blue eyes. I said a silent prayer and hoped for the best.


	2. You Don't Know Me

Thank you SO much for all your reviews, I'm really glad you liked, I'm gonna be updating as soon as I can because I'm going on holiday in 3 weeks and would like to have finished this story by then cause I'll be away for a month. So lucky for you, you'll probs get two or 3 updates a week. Thank you to _Babys2245, TraylorxChaylor, Dreamluver209 and glasvegas_ But yeah back to the story this chapter is a little slower but give it a chance. 

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"oh and before I forget your topic for this week is _childhood_" and with that Mr. Smith sat at his desk and watched the class burst into conversation. I stayed silent reminiscing on his last word, childhood. That meant memories with my father _and_ mother.

"So you tell me something about yourself Taylor, Do you bite?" he asked leaning closer sending shivers up my neck.

Half my mind was still trying to figure out how to go through this week without having to talk about my mother and the other trying not to burst from the suddenly explosion of butterflies in my stomach. I know I said I loved thinking but even my brain was beginning to tire at the constant activity this morning had provided. Concentrate, Taylor concentrate. I repeated over and over in my mind until I was certain I believed myself.

"No, Troy I don't not bite" I replied rolling my eyes, what kind of question was that anyway _do you bite_, I mean what does that even really mean? Does he even know? Stupid questions; if I had known this was the beginning of the month of many questions I would have requested a partner switch. Silly little naïve me managed to put two and two together and get five.

He snorted at me, that kind of snort that said yeah sure you don't. Arrogant pig I thought smiling to myself as the words passed through my head. It was the first certain thought I'd had all morning and it was a thought I liked.

"Whatever, so when do you want to want work on this, because knowing you, you will want to" He asked returning back to the task at hand.

"Knowing me? Troy you don't even _know_ me" I replied annoyed that he'd assumed anything about me, regardless of the fact it was correct.

Once again he did that annoying snort and smirked "I know you are Taylor Mckessie, Cousin of Zeke Baylor and best friend to Gabriella Montez. You like Maths and are captain of the Decathlon team. Need I say more?"

"Ignorance Troy is not an attractive attribute." I paused for a second before continuing "Troy Bolton; best friend to Chad Danforth, Captain of the Wildcats basketball team and certified playboy, Need I say more?" I smirked back before continuing

"You know stating the facts about someone does not mean you know them, I could state where Brad Pitt lived, his favourite colour and his birthday, but do I know him? Please don't assume things Troy it's not very becoming. Oh and I forgot to add arrogant pig to the list" I smiled waiting for his reaction.

"Ignorant _and_ arrogant, my oh my, isn't your vocabulary just charming this morning." He laughed throwing me off guard. He had completely ignored the other half of what I just said. He wasn't even attempting to reply. He didn't he didn't say another word. So we sat in silence and once again I was left to battle with my thoughts.

The bell rang and we gathered our things together, I scanned the room for Gabby to find her being led out by Chad, his hand comfortably resting on her lower back. I made a mental note to quiz her on that at lunch. I turned to talk to Troy to find that he'd disappeared too. I sighed and began to exit the classroom.

"4.30 after school, you have decathlon and I have practice we'll meet after by my car to discuss this lil' project and I'll give you a ride home. _Don't be late_" He said startling me as he leant up against the wall outside homeroom, he looked at me for a moment before using his left foot to push himself off the wall and turn to leave, leaving me dumbfounded. I didn't even get a chance to reply for all he knew I could have plans! I mean _who_ does he think he is! Composure Taylor composure, I took a deep breathe and got myself together making my way to algebra. Finally something that makes sense to me, I needed this class.

The rest of the morning passed by smoothly and I was now headed to lunch to catch up with Gabriella. I was dying to find out about her and Chad and I know she was dying to tell me. My eyes flickered across the cafeteria before I saw her waving from a table in the corner where she sat by herself. I waved back and made my way over.

"Hey girl!" I said hugging her seeing as this was the first time I'd spoken to her all day. She returned the hug before sitting back down again.

"So Danforth eh? Go on spill." I smiled seeing the spark in her eyes, trust me I was happy for my girl she of all people deserved to be happy.

"I know girl, I having been thanking God all day today." I giggled at her knowing she meant it literally. She continued "Tay he is so cute!"

"Gabby we established that a very long time ago!" I interrupted causing us both to laugh

"Yeah I know that but seriously, oh yeah we have a study date today after school and for once I'm not doing the tutoring, WE are working on getting to know each other _together_" She sighed the last part of sentence. I mean I remember the time when she run into him in the hall way and she wouldn't shut up about it for the rest of the week because he'd picked up her books for her and helped her up. By the end of the week I thought I was going to have bye ear plugs, it was that bad.

"Girl I think you two did enough 'getting to know each other' this morning!" I laughed seeing her cheeks turn a deep shade of red. "Don't think I didn't see his hand on your back" I replied winking, I loved messing with her it was too easy.

"Tay! It is so not like that!" she looked down playing with her fingers

"Hmm what ever Gabs, I saw the smile on his face when he found out he was working with you." She smiled and decided to smoothly change the subject to me.

"What ever, anyway how's working with Troy? What's he like? " He asked curious

"Girl Don't get me started on that arrogant piece of work!" I said before being interrupted from a voice behind me.

"What arrogant piece of work? I hope you weren't referring to me again?" I turned to meet the boy who once again had that oh so charming smirk plastered on his face, I rolled my eyes.

"Please, you give yourself way too much credit. What do you want now?" I asked clearly annoyed that he had interrupted my conversation about him. I was ready to vent and he had managed to ruin that. He was soon joined by the rest of the team including Zeke and Chad.

"I give credit where it's due, I was just making sure we were still on for our date tonight" He said winking, this didn't go unnoticed by Zeke who immediately jumped in and Gabby whose eyes I could feel searching my face for a reaction that she could read. My face stayed completely blank, did he just say _date_? This boy was messing with me and I didn't like it.

"Date? Tay what's he talking about?" Zeke questioned transforming into over-protective brother mode.

"Trust me Zeke, if I knew I'd tell you, your friend is just a tad delusional" I replied not taking my eyes off Troy. I saw the little smirk grow once again on his face; I wasn't going to play his games.

"So you're not going to join me after school to start this project? Leaving work to the last minute doesn't sound like the Taylor I know" He knew he was getting to me.

"You _don't_ know me Troy."

"I believe the point of this project is so I get to _know_ you" I sighed in frustration.

"See you after school Troy" I said through clenched teeth "Now if you don't mind Gabby and I were having a private conversation" I said calmly before turning away to face Gabriella.

"4.30 Taylor"

"Bye Troy" I replied as he left, I noticed the concerned look Zeke gave me but chose to ignore it knowing I'd have to explain everything to him later on.

"Bye Brie" I heard Chad say "After school okay?" He confirmed

"After school C" She replied smiling. They'd already got to having nick names. Man they moved fast.

"Okay WHAT was that about?" She asked

"Ugh Gabby that boy gets on my last nerve, I seriously have NO patience for him and you know me I usually have patience for everyone. But he is in a league of his own!" I exclaimed throwing my hands up frustrated.

"Yeah he is in a league of exceptionally fine gentlemen" She stated laughing knowing I agreed. I glared at her "C'mon you know it's true and again what was all that about?" she asked returning to the subject. I sighed and explained to her what had happened in homeroom.

"Can you believe him first he states all these facts about me like they're true!"

"They _are_ true Tay"

"Yeah that's not the point he was saying it like he_ knew_ me! He doesn't know anything about me. And then he goes ahead and arranges a study date without confirming it with me! I could have had plans; I have a life and it certainly doesn't revolve around him!" I said taking in a deep breathe and meeting a very amused Gabby.

"what?" I questioned her

"Oh nothing…" She smiled knowingly. Whatever it was she was thinking I knew for a fact she was wrong.

"Whatever; I have to get to chemistry, I'll see you at the meeting after school" I said as we both we got up. It sucked that we were hardly in any of the same classes this year, it's a good thing we had Decathlon or else we'd hardly ever see each other. We exited the cafeteria before parting in different directions to our classes.

4.30 He'd said 4.30! Here I was at 4.35 with no sign of him. Chad and Gabby had just left because _Chad_ was on time. I was still here standing by his car waiting on him and he told me not to be late. The nerve of this Boy, I thought getting irritated. I breathed in looking at my watch again, I'll wait five more minutes and then I'll go I decided.

4.39, one more minute and I'm gone I thought, I began tapping my foot a sure sign of impatience. 4.40 That's it I'm going I said just as he walked out of the school building.

"You're late" I said crossing my arms across my chest as he approached me

"But you waited" I quickly replied causing me to roll my eyes, that did not sound like an apology but I bit my tongue anyway.

"You have a nerve, telling me not to be late when you couldn't even get here on time!" I exclaimed putting one hand on my hip and pointing the other at him.

"Yeah I'm sorry about that I'm not usually late" He replied sounding somewhat sincere standing over me. He still hadn't offered me a reason for being late but I let it slide. At least I had a ride home I thought.

"What ever can we just go" I said turning to open his door. He quickly pushed my hand way from the handle so he could open the door, I rolled my eyes.

"And they say chivalry's dead" I said sarcastically as I got into his car. He laughed and shook his head as he run round to get into the drivers side.

**Hopefully it's not moving too slow, but let me know what you think I love hearing your opinions. Thanks again for ALL your reviews! ******


	3. His little piece of peace

Thank you again SO much for all your encouraging reviews. This chapter is very long, 8 pages so please let me know what you think, also I've got the next chapter read and seeing as I won't be able to this weekend I'll probably put it up later on tonight! Lucky for you guys! Keep reading and reviewing I really would like to finish this story within the next few weeks. 

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"Troy! That was my house where are we going?" I asked sounding a little bit more panicked than I'd hoped to. But seriously I was in a car with some crazy boy who lacks time keeping skills, of course I was going to panic.

"Calm down Tay" He laughed "wait, are you scared?" He asked a small smile creeping up on his face,

"No, I am not _scared_ Troy, I'm not _scared_" I lied, I was scared out of my mind but he didn't need to know that

"Come on Tay, Just trust me" he said winking at me,

Was he for real? I stayed silent because I really had no idea what to say, I mean I don't trust him. I had no reason to trust him, but then again I had no reason not to trust him either. The battle in my brain continued for a few moments when I heard him sigh and stop the car abruptly in the middle of the street. He didn't even bother to pull over. What was he thinking?

"Troy what are you doing?" I questioned

"Do you want me turn around and take you home?"

Yes.

I hesitated "No..." I slowly replied

"Good, now get out" He said

I looked at him like he'd grown five heads "wh...at?" I stuttered

"Get out of the car Taylor!" He replied his voice getting louder; I nodded my head slowly and got out of the car looking back at him uncertainly before closing the door behind me. I looked around to find myself in the middle of nowhere surrounded by lots of trees on either side of the road. I got this sickening feeling in my bottom of my stomach as I watched him speed off leaving me stunned. What was he doing?

"Troy!" I shouted attempting to run after him "TROY!" I shouted again to no avail. I saw his car turn the corner and I threw my hands in the air. That jerk had my bag in his car which had my cell phone in it. I was actually deserted; I turned sharply on my heel and marched down the road. Calm down Taylor calm down I told myself but right now it was no use. I had no cell, no money, I was stuck in the middle of nowhere about a million miles from home and stupid Troy Bolton made this happen.

"That stupid, stupid Jerk! Ugh How could you be so stupid, you should have just said you didn't trust him and then he would have took you home and you would be doing your algebra homework instead of being lost! Why did you try and play his stupid games, you have lied twice today for no reason! Damn you Troy Bolton!" I said to myself scorning every part of me for being taken in by him on the space of six hours.

"But algebra's not as fun" I heard someone say breathlessly from behind me.

"You... You... You... JERK!" I said turning around and pushing him away from me, I actually hadn't been this angry at anyone since I could remember.

"Hey said you trusted me!" He said holding up his arms in a defensive manner

"Yes and I LIED!" I stomping my right foot like a five year old. I crossed my arms across my chest and glared at him.

"Well now we know why you shouldn't lie, see Tay you learn something new every day" He said stifling a laugh at my actions and stepping closer towards me. I stared at him wondering what he was going to do next. We stared at each other for a while before he burst out laughing.

"you should see yourself right now, you look just like a five year old" He paused "A very cute five year old might I add" He smiled walking towards me, I rolled my eyes at him

"C'mon lets go we don't have much time and I'm sure you probably have a curfew" He said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me down an opening in the trees which led towards a path in the woods that had just swallowed us.

"Ahhh! Troy, where are we going? What are you doing? Where the hell are we going!" I asked as we raced down the path hand in hand before stopping suddenly as we were met by what looked like a secret garden.

I know right, it sounds corny but it's true, it was a small round area of green with the smallest cleanest little stream running through it and leading back into the woods. The water sparkled against the five o'clock sun. All the anger that had been running through my veins suddenly disappeared and calm took over my body. My eyes searched our surroundings making sure they took in every detail around them. The little purple, red and yellow flowers surrounding us, I felt as though we'd interrupted a very sacred place, the tranquillity of the place was unbelievable, I mean how did he find this place right in the middle of the road. This place didn't belong here; it belonged somewhere beautiful, not by the side of the road in Albuquerque.

As these thoughts run through my head I'd completely forgotten we were still holding hands, I then begun battling with the thought of de-tangling my hand from his. Would it make it awkward? Was it rude? I mean this was the first time I'd held a boys' hand for this long so what to do next I wasn't sure and I could feel my palms getting sweaty. No I definitely had to let go; besides I was still angry at him for leaving me in the middle of the road earlier. Just because he brought me somewhere amazingly beautiful didn't mean I'd forgotten the fact he was a complete jerk. I let his hand go and decided I was still mad at him.

"So what now?" I asked crossing my arms across my chest and sitting down on a near by rock.

"Well, that's not the reaction I was hoping for but okay..." He said looking slightly disappointed.

"Well, what did you expect Troy? Huh? What you bring me to this secret garden and then what I'm supposed to bow at your feet?" I questioned not meaning to sound as annoyed as I did.

"Do you really think that's why I bought you here?" He snorted annoyingly before continuing.

"I just thought, it would be cool you know? So we could chill and get a little bit of peace before having to go back to life" he paused again "But that was my mistake Taylor, so come on let's just go back okay" He said calmly, there was no disappointment or anger in his voice just calm. He looked at me again before walking past me back up the path we'd come running down.

I sighed getting up and following him slowly taking one last glance at the place I didn't want to leave but my pride wouldn't let me object. We walked back to the where he'd parked the car about mile away up the road. We silently got in remaining this way through the ten minute drive back to my house. I got my bag pausing as I opened the car door trying to decide whether to say something or not. I decided against it mumbling thank you as I scrambled out of the car and run through my front door to meet a very unimpressed father.

"Sorry I'm late Dad I should have phoned, I was working on a project with Troy" I said before he could say anything.

"Troy Bolton?" he asked intrigued

"Yeah, don't ask" I said rolling my eyes as I turned to go up to my room, before pausing mid way up the stairs "I'm not hungry so I'll just do my work and go to bed"

"Okay, babygirl I'll bring you up something anyway in case you change your mind" he said heading into the kitchen. My dad was a good man but since my mom had passed away our relationship was different. It was no secret I was a mummy's girl but in the last three years me and my Dad had developed a pretty tight relationship but after she died it like we couldn't connect anymore. It hurt me and I know it hurt him too but there was nothing I could do about it now.

I was half way through my algebra homework when I stopped. I couldn't stop thinking about what Troy had said, all he wanted to do was relax before going back to life as he'd put it and I'd acted like a stuck up brat. I wasn't proud of myself at all but I couldn't seem to humble myself enough to apologise and I didn't know why, I usually found it quite easy to say sorry I mean it wasn't that hard. It was a five letter word, yet I wasn't going to say it, not to him anyway. I decided to phone gabby and see how her so called date went with Chad.

I dialled her number waiting for her to pick up. It was only 9.30 so I knew she'd be awake.

"Hey Tay" she said into the phone, I could hear the smile in her voice already, at least one of us had had a good day.

"Hey Gabby, how'd it go?" I asked

"How'd what go?" she was trying to be difficult

"cut it out G, you know what I mean" I laughed

"okay okay..." she sighed "He's perfect" wow she was sprung, I thought rolling my eyes and feeling slightly, but only slightly jealous.

"Hmm hmm, so go on give me the details" I encouraged, I wanted to know what was so perfect about Chad Danforth, except of course his face.

"Well we came back to my house and talked for a while in my back yard. He's so funny Tay he had me laughing till tears came out of my eyes. My mom likes him too and you know how she can be she even asked him to stay for diner but he couldn't, he had to get home. Turns out he likes more than just basketball, he likes reading but don't tell him I told you that. He's real smart regardless of how goofy he acts in homeroom and really interesting..." she continued in this manner for another ten minutes while I sat on the other side listening patiently and making all the right noises when I should. I was happy that she was happy and turns out Chad asked her on a date this Saturday.

"So what happened with Troy? Did he turn up?" she asked "because you know if he didn't I will give him a piece of my mind tomorrow" she said making me laugh

"Gabby please, all you'll do is mumble something under your breathe when you walk past him and maybe step on his foot then say sorry anyway" I teased knowing I was right, Gabriella Montez was too sweet and too timid to give anyone a piece of her mind.

"I would not!" she protested before pausing "Okay fine, maybe I would... but seriously what happened?"

"It's a long story; I'll have to tell you about it tomorrow okay?"

"No! Taylor Anne Mckessie-Montez! You are going to tell me now... wait hold on someone's on the other line let me see who it is" she said using my full name which included her last name, we'd come up with that when we were ten because we said if we were sisters we should have the same last name. Hers was Montez-Mckessie.

"Okay" I said waiting for her to get back to me. I was waiting for about five minutes before she returned

"Girl, I'm so sorry that was Chad"

"What? You just saw him a couple of hours ago what did he want?" I asked annoyed

"He wanted to see if I needed a ride to school tomorrow"

"Oh right, you guys are moving fast, nicknames and rides to school all in one day, he must be something"

She giggled shamelessly on the other side "Stop it Tay, yeah he is something else and he's still on the other line, do you mind if we finish this talk tomorrow?"

"Of course, go ahead and get your man G!" I said laughing at her because I knew she was completely blushing right now.

"Okay bye Tay, love you and I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Love you too G, night" I said as I hung up. Aww my girl was growing up, getting her soon to be first boyfriend. I thought, I looked at my algebra and sighed before flopping back onto my bed.

I decided to go to bed because thoughts of Troy were slowly trickling into my head, they were even interrupting my bed time prayers, my special time with God and I hated myself for letting them. Sleep was my only escape, so I curled up into my bed apologising to God for today. It seemed like I'd spent the whole day apologising to him and guilt poured through my veins making sure that sleep didn't come easy. It wasn't until midnight that I finally won the battle that was going on in my brain between thoughts of Troy and going to sleep.

6.30 came all too quickly the next morning and before I knew it I was walking down the east High halls heading to homeroom. I walked in with five minutes to spare and walked to up to Gabriella who had waved me over from Chad's side. I smiled and accepted her invitation.

"Hey G" I said as I hugged her "Hey Chad" I said greeting the boy behind her, who smiled and nodded at me.

"What's up girl? Where's Troy?"

"He isn't here yet obviously" I replied annoyed that she'd brought him up so early in the morning. She slowly nodded looking at me a little bit suspiciously before smiling.

"Okay... so how is your project going?" she asked hoping this would lead to a more welcome topic of conversation.

"It's not" I said laughing "How about you two?" I asked

"Yeah, its okay we already took a few pictures" she said smiling at Chad who returned the smile

"Yeah who knew Brie was so photogenic and not so camera shy" he chimed in teasing her which in turn caused her to blush. I smiled at the two who seemed to have really hit it off; we continued to discuss the project until Mr. Smith entered the room just before the bell went, quickly followed by Troy.

I moved to my seat next to Troy who was not in the friendliest of moods, if this was about last night, he needed to get over it I thought and quit sulking. And he called me a five year old. When Mr. Smith finished talking he told us to use the rest of home room to work on our projects seeing as we had forty five minutes left. I used this as my cue to start up a conversation hoping we could actually start some work on this thing.

"So how are you?" I asked as happily as I could smiling, but was greeted by a cold stare instead.

"Fine as can be" he replied returning to his sulk

"Yeah I'm fine too thanks for asking" I replied rolling my eyes, I told you I had no time for his foolishness, If he wanted to act like a little child then let him.

"What ever Tay, I'm not in the mood to deal with your sarcasm today" he said looking hurt

"Troy if this is about yesterday then seriously you need to get over it, I have" I said shrugging my shoulders.

"TAYLOR THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU! You seem to think the sun rises and sets up your backside, if for one moment you got you're stuck up little head out from your sunny little world, maybe just maybe you would see the bigger picture!" He shouted causing the whole class to look at us silently. I was so shocked at his outburst I had nothing to say back, my cheeks were burning as embarrassment flew over my whole body. He gathered his things together and pushed past me before storming out of the classroom. I met a worried Gabriella's eyes as I fought back tears, she mouthed to me signalling me to go after him once she'd cleared it was a good idea with Chad.

I slowly nodded and got up asking Mr. Smith to be excused from class, he allowed me and I run down the hall straight to the gym. It's the only place I could think of him being. He didn't seem like a hideout in the toilet kind of guy, nor did he seem like a read in the library guy. The only other place left was the gym. Thank God I was right; I heard the ball bouncing against the floor as I approached the door. I sighed before entering to find him frustratedly taking and missing the shot. He turned around as he heard my footsteps approach him.

"what do you want?" he asked annoyed

"To see if you're okay"

"Why? So you can ease your little conscience by making sure it wasn't you who pissed me off" He laughed bitterly, I stayed silent once again hurt by what he'd said. This was a bad idea.

"I'm sorry Troy; clearly this was a bad idea." I said turning quickly to leave

"No, wait" He sighed "I'm sorry for snapping at you"

I turned around and cautiously approached him; we both went and sat down on the benches at the side of the court.

"I'm sorry you think I'm stuck up Troy" I said breaking the silence "I know I was a complete brat yesterday... but you did get on my last nerve though" I said laughing

"You're right, you were a brat and I don't really think you're stuck up... well maybe a little" He chuckled earning a slap on the arm from me.

"I am so not stuck up!"

"And I'm not all the bad things you think I am, it might take a while to list all the insults you've dished out at me in the space of twenty four hours" He said laughing "Okay maybe I'm a little arrogant, but come on I have every right to be" he said laughing again, I rolled my eyes at him a little relieved that he was back to being arrogant Troy instead of angry Troy.

"Egotistical much?"

"Not without reason" He said winking at me once again I rolled at my eyes at his antics.

"So you wanna tell me why you were angry earlier... you don't have to" I said

He paused before getting and taking another shot which went straight in. "My mum died seven years ago today, we visited her grave this morning. Sorry for taking it out on you, and that's why I was late yesterday my Dad was talking to me about it" He said looking at me

"That place I took you to last night was her favourite place, it gave her peace. When I looked at you in homeroom that morning you looked like you needed some peace in your heart so I thought I'd help" He said shrugging his shoulders and taking another shot.

The pain that shot through my heart at that moment was indescribable; I'd managed to rubbish something that meant a lot to him without even trying. He was just trying to be nice, that's all. I felt all of one centimetre high at that point.

"I'm so sorry Troy, man I feel like such a Jerk" I said getting up and walking to him. "I'm so sorry, today must be really hard for you"

"I've gotten used to it, it gets easier as time goes by" He said as though he was trying to tell me about my mom. I nodded.

"I'm sorry, I was so caught up in trying to dislike you I completely forgot it was that time of year for you... I can be so self-centred" I said shaking my head

"Hey don't beat yourself up about it, you're self-centred and I'm arrogant what the big deal?" He asked shrugging it off again. Why was he so calm and relaxed, if I was him I would've been fuming by now. I would have had a break down, glass would be broken. I found myself admiring this gentler side of him. I shook my head at him smiling as he returned the smile, we both heard the bell go and looked at each other.

"What class do you have now?" He asked as he got his bag

"I've got a study period, but I need to finish off some homework from last night" I replied grabbing my bag

"Okay I've got a study now too and then we've both got lunch after, how about we visit my little piece of peace up in the woods and chill for a bit, you can even finish off your algebra" He suggested smiling at me, I paused to consider his idea

"C'mon I promise to have you back in time for your precious algebra" he pouted

"Since you promised and all" I said laughing

"Good let's get going, here take this" he said handing me his basketball and grabbing my book bag out of my hand. I shook my head and smiled as I followed him out of the gym and down the hallway.

His little piece of peace, he'd said and yet he'd chose to share it with me. The privilege was overwhelming.


	4. Childhood

Here's the next chapter, I decide to update again today because I have the busiest weekend coming up so I most probably won't update till next week. I also really want to finish this story before I go away in a couple of months. Hope you guys enjoy and please review. Thank you again SOOO much for all the reviews I've been getting.

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It was Saturday morning and I'd just gotten into Troy's car to go somewhere I didn't know. I was thinking about Gabby and her date with Chad later this afternoon. We'd just discussed her outfit at her house and Troy had come to pick me up from there. I smiled at the thought of my best friend out on her first date, she was so cute all nervous and stuff, what for I didn't know because her and Chad had this amazing chemistry. They were so comfortable in each other's company it was unreal how they completed each other. They were almost like a couple seeing as they were together all week, in between classes, at lunch, before school, after school. If Troy wasn't there I was the third wheel unless the team or Zeke was there then I had someone else to talk to or walk with. The only time I'd seen her without Chad this was at the meetings on Monday and Wednesday and I'm sure if his coach let him skip practice and we let non-decathlon members in he would be there. They were inseparable and honestly I couldn't hate because it was way too cute. Plus I didn't have time to I was still getting accustomed to hanging with the basketball team for one and two befriending Sharpay Evans who was unofficially dating my cousin Zeke in my eyes. All they had to do was admit they liked each other and it was on.

I looked over at my stupid partner; since our visit to his little piece of peace as he calls it we'd been civil with each other and much to my protest he'd given me a ride home everyday after school so we can _'get to know each other'_ for the project of course. He'd been on time every time the after that. It turns out Troy wasn't too bad of a guy when he wasn't being arrogant or assuming things which may or may not have been true but of course I wasn't planning on letting him know that, _ever_. We spent the twenty minute rides to my house after school doing one of three things; arguing because he was getting on my nerves, talking because surprisingly he had good conversational skills or sitting in silence because it had become tranquil to us. I enjoyed the silence the most, I told him it was because I didn't have to hear his annoying voice, and really it was because it meant we could just be, just be comfortable and silent in each others gravity. Another thing he would never need to know.

Today we planned on officially starting work on the project, i.e. taking pictures and discussing _childhood. _He said we were going to one of his favourite places, (he seemed to have a lot of those just lying around) and that I'd like it because he had good taste in everything. I remember rolling at eyes at this, something I find I have grown quite accustomed to since I met him. He once said I rolled my eyes at him more than I talked to him, I was beginning to think it was true. There he goes again interrupting my thoughts, which more often than not had recently become about him. Another thing I won't ever tell him about.

"What you thinking about Tay" He asked using his new nick name for me, which wasn't very original seeing as everyone called me that. But whatever.

"Nothing, just you know… things" I replied nonchalantly

"Thinking about me again are we?" He smiled as he continued to focus on the road ahead of him.

"Get over yourself Bolton" I replied smirking, a habit I'd stolen from him in the last week I'd been hanging out with him. This boy was giving me nothing but bad habits.

"Well you didn't deny it either" He replied smugly, so true I thought whilst trying to think of a way of changing the subject.

"Where are we going anyway?" I asked

"I already said it's a surprise, don't you trust me?" He asked knowing the answer to that question.

"Nope… last time you said that you left me stranded remember!" I replied laughing at the hurt expression that went across his face.

"Yeah, for all of five minutes! Man chicks are such a drama queens" He laughed to himself

I rolled my eyes at him yet again "Whatever looser" I replied returning my gaze from him to the road ahead, well we were going to place of peace that's for sure I thought.

"There you go again with the insults, why do insist on hurting my feelings?"

"Cause its fun and you know me I'm all about fun! Fun! Fun!" I said causing us both to chuckle.

Half an hour later we pulled over at the edge of a cliff with the most beautiful view, the Albuquerque September sky was a clear blue that seemed to stretch into eternity and back and the mid morning sun was beating down on my face as I climbed out of the car. I let out a small yawn stretching my arms out as I took the view in while curious looking Troy watched me from his side of the car.

"It's beautiful." I breathed finally, as a suddenly satisfied Troy nodded agreeing with me.

"I know" He paused "and there you were not trusting me" He said chuckling.

"I have no reason to trust you _remember_" I said as we both walked round the car to meet in the middle and lean our back against the hood of car. I looked at him trying to figure out what he was going to say next. He chose silence, something he often did. I'd learnt he was a man, no a _boy_ of little words, he spoke and finished and that was it. He never gave away too much, he was very guarded.

He met my eyes and smiled knowing I was right before he shrugged it off like he did most things. We stood there for a few more minutes taking in the view before he spoke, much to my annoyance, I could have stood there all day getting lost in my thoughts, I almost did but of course he wouldn't let me as per usual.

"I come here to clear my head from time to time." He explained answering the question I'd been thinking all along.

"Really Bolton, thoughts actually go through that big head of yours" I teased smirking at him

"Oh you'd be surprised Mckessie" He replied winking at me, making us both laugh

"Well stranger things have happened Bolton" I giggled earning a glare from him. We then settled back into that silence we both loved. But Troy being Troy had to ruin it of course.

"So, childhood" He said looking down at me again "Tell me everything." He simply stated like it was that simple. I rubbed my sweaty hands on my jeans, once again cursing myself for still having that give away habit.

"Everything?" I questioned raising an eyebrow

"That's what I said" he said in an annoying matter-of-factly way

"I wouldn't know where to start and stop, I mean when do you stop being a child?" I laughed trying to sound smart and hoping to change the direction of this conversation. No such luck.

"The minute you become a teenager" He said confidently refocusing his eyes on the view ahead. Stupid smartass.

"Whatever Troy" I replied as annoyance seeped through my voice, not at him but at me for still being too upset to talk about the memories of my mum.

"What it's true! So go on tell me everything, your first day at school, your favourite birthday present, your favourite holiday, your favourite memories with your dad and your mo..." He stopped himself as he saw me wince at the word he was going to say. He had realised, he inhaled deeply rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. He was uncomfortable.

"No it's fine" I started "My favourite holiday was going to L.A. with my family, I was 8 years old" I decided to use the word family to avoid saying Mom. I actually did only go with my mom to visit my auntie in L.A, just me and my mom whilst my Dad was in New York on a business trip. He joined us there a week later.

"Tay you don't have to" I looked at him before continuing, I could tell through his eyes he was wondering if he'd overstepped the boundaries, during this week I'd discovered if you looked hard enough you could read Troy Bolton through his eyes. I had looked, trust me I had looked. But his eyes were right; he had over stepped the mark because I knew I wasn't ready to talk about my mother in this way, but someone was going to over step the boundaries sooner or later so why not him?

"The drive there was the best part, me and my mo…" I stopped again almost choking on my words "We sung the whole way there, it was then I first discovered my love for singing, in the passenger side of the car on the highway with _her_" I said as sadness covered my eyes.

"And My first day at school was horrible for both of us" Us being me and my mom. "I didn't want to go in and she wasn't ready to let me go so she made my favourite breakfast, pancakes and packed me an extra chocolate bar in my lunch, she was the first mother to come pick me up from school that day. I remember promising her I wouldn't cry but as soon as she left I fell into my teacher's arms crying." I took a deep breathe in, I hadn't visited this part of my brain in the last four months, not since she died and it was killing me inside. Still I held myself together and to buy me some more time I asked him to answer.

"My favourite holiday was a camping trip with my dad when I was seven. It was real manly and we did all this man stuff" he said laughing and causing me to laugh as well which helped the growing lump in my throat.

"Man stuff eh? You started doing man stuff at the age of 7 and at 17 you're still a boy, something doesn't add up here Bolton" I teased as he shook his head.

"You and your mouth" he said chuckling "yeah we did some real manly stuff, we went fishing and kayaking and mountain climbing and everything." He smiled as a small sparkle grew in his eyes, giving away just how precious he thought that memory was "It's one of the last memories of my dad that doesn't include basketball" he said giving off a slightly bitter laugh. I nodded my head as I listened.

"If I'm honest I don't remember my first day of school all too well, but I do remember you crying like a baby though in Mrs Winters' arms and me and Chad laughing because girls always cried." He finished, I'd completely forgot we'd always been in the same school together since forever. I rolled my eyes at the last part of his comment.

"Tay, if it's too painful, you don't have to talk about all your memories" He continued studying my face once again trying to see if he'd crossed the line. This time even I wasn't sure if he had. I held his gaze for a while before turning away and rubbing my palms on my jeans again. After a few moments of silence I spoke.

"This is my favourite birthday present" I whispered pulling out a locket from under my white t-shirt. It was white gold with a picture of me and her inside.

"It's real beautiful Tay" he said nodding as he stroked it gently.

"It's the last present she gave me, it was for my 17th birthday last year, and she made me promise never to loose it. It was my little part of her she had told me, and that's when I knew she was going to di… the cance… she was in hospital the next day, she was gone two months later" I replied as I fought back tears, biting my lip as hard as I could almost drawing blood. It was no use; the memory was too vivid, too real and too soon. I turned away as my shoulders began to shake and I clutched my stomach feeling as though I was going to throw up.

That's when his arms scooped me up stopping me from falling over, I took a deep breathe and wiped away my tears before smiling up at him. I wasn't going to fall apart, my Dad needed me to be strong for him and I needed to be strong for me. This was far from the place or the time to fall apart; I'd drive by the church later and do my grieving there, just me and God.

"I'm okay" I whispered, apologising to God in my head once again for lying, but I'm pretty sure he understood considering the circumstances. Troy didn't respond but instead pulled me closer into his embrace. "I'm okay" I repeated this time almost convincing myself. I looked up giving him a wide smile as our eyes met.

"Thank you." Our eyes locked not leaving each others for a while; I needed him to believe I was alright because I didn't want him to push the issue. I was so close to breaking point, I'm sure if he asked one more question I'd break down. I didn't want to look this vulnerable in front of him again. We stood there together for a few more minutes before I gently pushed myself way from him and stood next to him.

"It's okay to hurt Taylor" He said looking ahead, the silence was not appreciated by me at this moment. So for once I broke it.

"So what were we saying?" I asked a little too chirpily than I'd hoped my voice to sound, I saw the concern flash through his eyes for a second before he let me continue knowing this was my way of dealing with life.

"Yeah so we covered holidays and school and I did presents, but you didn't so go on tell me about your favourite birthday present. Wait let me guess… a basketball!" I said forcing a laugh, I knew I was rambling but I didn't care I was trying to erase the last few moments from my mind. It was just a small moment of weakness that won't happen ever again. Three more weeks with Troy and you can go back to your usual routine. That's all you had to get through after these three weeks you didn't have to spend any extra time with Troy and you wouldn't have to face those eyes anymore. Now smile.

He shook his head, whether it was at my sudden switch of emotions or whether it was at my terrible joke I didn't know. Then he smiled and played along with my game.

"Erm lets see, my favourite birthday present…" I listened to him talk, not really taking in anything he said which was terrible on my behalf but I was still trying to get my emotions under control and I think he knew I wasn't listening.

That was it, we'd reached an understanding where for now he was going to let me deal with my life how I liked and he would play along for as long as he could, which for him was only the next three weeks I hoped. The connection between us was beginning to scare me and I was pretty sure I was the only one of us that could actually feel it. I know there's an unwritten rule somewhere that states two people of the opposite sex shouldn't feel so complete with each other in the space of a week. I would find it and embed into my heart and make sure my heart obeyed it. Troy Bolton was simply a study partner, not even a friend, a study partner and that's all he would ever be because my heart can't take the emotions that come with being next to him. Yet there we were standing comfortably in each other's gravity. He was talking and I was doing my best to listen.


	5. I Promise

_THANKS AGAIN SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS HERES THE NEXT CHAPTER! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE ITS REALLY LONG BTW SO BE WARNED ___

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_I'll never let you sweep me off my feet_ I muttered to myself as I thought about Troy Bolton. It was Monday morning and I was waiting for him to come pick me up, He said he'd give me a ride to school that morning. I thought over the weekend that had just passed, after the whole crying at the cliff incident, honestly you'd think I thought I was in some kind of romance movie. That's what Gabby and Sharpay had said when I told them what had happened yesterday afternoon, Gabby and I had met up with Sharpay after church to hang out. Regardless of popular belief she was okay and really hilarious. I got up from my door step when I saw Troy pull up. I wasn't ready for him to meet my Dad, although my Dad knew who he was seeing as he was the school's basketball star but him meeting my Dad meant he'd have to come into my house and then I'd have memories of him in my house and just no. Troy Bolton was staying outside my house and in turn outside my real life. The life I led outside algebra class. He was not going to be a part of it ever, it was for the best, and it meant neither of us got hurt.

"Thanks" I said as he opened the door to his car. Suddenly I was nervous again and smoothing my hands over my nearly floor length purple dress that had dark pink patterns all over it. I was wearing a grey cardigan over it because the September breeze seemed to get cooler every day.

"So Chad said he came to church with you and Gabby yesterday, he really enjoyed it he was wondering why I wasn't there" He smirked at me before looking ahead again

"I didn't think it was your thing" I replied, truth was I didn't want to spend time with him if it wasn't to do with the project.

"And how would you know what my thing is Taylor?"

I shrugged my shoulders "It doesn't match the whole playa image you have at school"

"So what playas can't go to church now?"

"That's not what I said"

"Sounds like it"

"Why are you arguing with me so early?"

"I'm not but your still making presumptions about me, I thought we'd gotten past that, damn it I thought we might even be friends" He said annoyed at me, I hated to admit it but I really didn't like it when he was annoyed at me.

"Ugh! You are so annoying! I was not intentionally making any presumptions okay sorry if you thought I was. We are friends Troy" I said reluctantly, I promised I'd never voice the fact Troy and I might actually be friends, but if that's what it took to erase this argument then that's what I'd do.

"Good and friends do things together like invite each other to places that they both enjoy, now I've shared places that mean a lot to me with you but I'm yet to see yours"

Oh great.

"Is this your way of trying to get me to take you out troy?" I asked hoping to lighten this conversation, I didn't like the way it was going plus I didn't want to share any of my favourite places with Troy and I never asked him to share his with me.

"Depends did it work?" He cheekily asked

"We'll see" I replied as we pulled into school. I quickly scrambled out of the car looking at my watch realising I had only had about seven minutes to get to my locker and to homeroom on time.

"Thanks for the ride Troy but I really need to run I have to grab some books from my locker before homeroom" I said turning to run into the school.

"Tay hold up! Let me at least help you with your book bag, you won't get very far dragging that behind you, how about I take this ahead to homeroom and I meet you there okay?" He said grabbing my bag, he'd brushed his hand over mine and that had strangely enough had sent butterflies into my stomach. I looked at him for moment before quickly running after him into school.

I entered homeroom three minutes before the bell and sighed relieved that I'd managed to make it, I smiled at Gabby before taking my seat next to Troy.

"I didn't get to say thanks earlier, so thanks" I said sitting down as he smiled and nodded at me.

"I wonder what this weeks topic for the project will be" he said excitedly as I returned the smile he'd just given me. Mr. Smith entered just then and informed us that this week's topic was called _Fun Secrets_. Oh boy, He'd given us a list of question that had to be incorporated into our final project. The list included hobbies, sharing something no one else knows... etc, it went on in that fashion, however he said we only have to get as personal as we want. Not to mention we shouldn't share things that we wouldn't want to see in our partner's final piece. I glanced at Troy wondering what he'd share with me. Getting to know him (although I hate to admit it) was really interesting, I never knew what was next with him although I admit the first week had been a little too personal but he hadn't held it against me yet.

I was just settling down next to Gabby and Shar on the lawn during our study period which was also our final period today. I had cancelled the decathlon meeting for today because most of our team was way too preoccupied in their projects and I decided we'd meet on Wednesday. This project was taking over everyone's life and it was ridiculous, if you walked through the halls of east high it wasn't murmurs of the parties attended at the weekend or who was going out and broken up with who it was this stupid project. Everyone seemed to have really taken to it, I was still very apprehensive.

I'm sure if my partner was anyone but Troy I would have breezed through the project like I did any other project calmly and logically. However there was no logic to Troy Bolton, he was charming so to say, extremely arrogant which was kind of sexy I suppose, completely annoying, but he was also sweet and sensitive, a great team captain from what I'd seen when I watched their practice with Gabby last week, very assertive and smarter than I'd hoped not to mention caring. He was also a player in every sense of word. Girls threw themselves at him and he threw himself back without hesitation however last week he had toned down on the whole player thing from what I'd seen. Every time I think I have this boy all figured out he shows me a whole other side to him, he'd make me laugh at him when I was annoyed with him, angry when I was having the greatest day on earth, he'd make me lose sleep when I was clearly tired and strangely enough he kind of made me feel safe. He had so much control over my emotions and I don't even think he knew it, it scared me and that's why I couldn't let him get any closer. It was too much of a risk.

"A penny for your thoughts Tay" I heard Sharpay say from opposite me. She was sitting Indian style eating some cookies that Zeke had made her. I smiled at her and shook my head.

"I'm not thinking about anything special, it's just weird how all everyone talks about these days is the stupid project, gosh I can't wait till it's over so I can go back to living my normal life." I replied

"Without Bolton you mean?" she asked smiling and sneaking Gabby a look that said she was right.

"I didn't say that"

"Well the only thing that's changed since we started the project is the fact you and the school's resident hottie are very close friends. Yeah girl I saw him carrying your bag this morning, or the fact that we're friends and I know it definitely isn't me" She said matter-of-factly causing both me and Gabby to laugh.

"No girl it definitely isn't you... and it's not Troy either... okay maybe a little. I dunno I guess I'm just not feeling it as much as everyone else. I mean you two are cool because it worked out perfectly that you're with your unofficial boyfriends, by the way how is that going?"

"Don't try and change the conversation but seeing as you asked it's going great! Your cousin is so cute but don't tell him I said that!" Sharpay said blushing "But back to Bolton, Tay you and him make the cutest couple and it's sickening how he constantly steals looks at you thinking he's all sly and what not, well when Sharpay Evans is in the room nothing and I mean nothing goes unnoticed. Oh and don't worry I saw you staring at him too. Oh and don't get me started on Gabby and Chad or should I say Brie and C or whatever it is they call each other." She said huffing

"Nothing's wrong with me and Chad! Besides you and Zeke can't say anything! You have him devouring your every word like his life depended on it." Gabby chipped in, I saw her blush and smile as she looked past my head which meant Chad and co were heading in our direction.

"Speaking of the devils" She said confirming my suspicions.

"Hey guys!" she smiled as they stood over us

"Hey Brie!" Chad said as he took a seat next to her on the grass, followed by Zeke who sat between Gabby and Shar and Troy who sat between me and Chad. Once everyone had greeted each other the couples soon seemed to drift into their own private conversations. Gabby and Chad were staring into each other's eyes and smiling looking like a cute new couple. He'd brush hair out of her face every once in a while and she'd blush at the gesture. I don't know what they were talking about but they soon got up and walked off together, with his hand around her should and her head on his shoulder. Zeke and Shar soon followed suite, however Shar was dragging Zeke by his hand and laughing away. Neither of them had even said goodbye, _young love_ I thought. It was intoxicating and there was no escape.

I looked at Troy who was currently saying something about something, I wasn't sure but I'd stopped listening a while ago, not because he was boring but because I was too busy thinking about young love and his eyes. They were blue, his eyes I mean, they were terribly blue, intoxicating blue, mysterious blue and beautiful blue. They had a soul and depth and somewhere in there they had peace and happiness. They had life and I loved them for it, I loved his eyes.

"Tay... earth to Taylor!" He said as he lunged at me and begun to tickle me, laughter took over me as I desperately tried to push him off me.

"Troy... don't... please... I... can't...breathe!" I said between bursts of laughter, we were now rolling around the school lawn like five year olds before he suddenly stopped and pinned me down to floor by positioning me in between his legs and holding my hands down above my head.

"I was simply trying to get your attention" He laughed as I continued to struggle against him

"Well you have it now let me go!"

"Promise?"

"Yes Troy I promise you have my undivided attention, now will you let me go people are staring!" I said noticing the slightly amused faces that walked past us.

"So let them" He replied before rolling over to lay on the space next me and finally freeing me. I perched myself onto my elbows and turned to face him as he stared up at me. He smiled as he picked the grass from my hair before pushing my hair it out of my face causing me to blush slightly. He then slowly pulled himself up into a seating position before pulling on my elbow so that I rested my head on his lap. I turned onto my back and kept my head in his lap as he continued to stare at me. All this body contact was making me nervous but all the less I felt safe where I was so I remained there as he continued to pick the grass out of my hair. No words were exchanged between us, both of us afraid we'd ruin the moment, only to be interrupted by Sharpay who took a picture of us on her camera before smiling satisfied at the outcome.

"aww you guys look so cute" she said admiring the picture as she sat down next to Zeke who was shaking his head "I'll be sure to give one of you a copy of this picture for the project or future personal use like you know like bedside frames or whatever" she added smiling making me blush shamefully as Troy continued to run his finger through my hair. I could have lay in that moment forever.

"Shar!" I exclaimed at the last bit of her sentence, this girl was a trip.

"What it's true! If I didn't know you guys I'd think you were going out!" she said

"Don't put ideas in their heads Pay" added a concerned Zeke causing us all to laugh. I loved my cousin for that.

"Let me see the picture" Troy spoke finally as Sharpay handed him her camera, he looked at it and smiled as he turned the camera so that I could look at it as well.

"You look cute Tay, someone might say you look like you actually like being around me" he teased

"Or the more intelligent people would observe that I'm being held there against my will because you are giving an excellent head massage" I replied looking up at him, noticing that as the sun hit his eyes they shone three different shades of blue; turquoisy sea blue, pale sky blue and a darker almost navy blue. They were mesmerizing. He smiled back and I knew he was going to be a smartass.

"No one's holding down now and yet you're still here" He said removing his hand from my head.

"Because it's more comfortable than the grass... can't you tell that I'm using you Bolton?" I replied as he laughed at me

"Ouch! That one cut me deep Tay! It cut me real deep" He said holding a hand over his heart with a fake hurt expression on his face.

"Suck it up soldier, there's plenty more insults where that came from" I replied laughing "Now if you don't mind I was enjoying the way you played with my hair. Feel free to continue" I added.

"Sir yes sir!" He replied before continuing to play with my hair and smile down at me on his lap.

I saw Sharpay roll her eyes at me and then I realised I hadn't even noticed Chad and Gabby sitting back down next to us. I quickly smiled at Gabby who was giving me strange looks before closing my eyes and enjoying the feeling. As much as I hated to admit it, I liked a lot of things about Troy Bolton at that moment in time, especially his ability to make me happy without buying me expensive gifts or performing grand gestures. I liked the feeling that was taking over me, whatever it was and it only seemed to happen when I thought of Troy or when he was around. It was then I decided I was going to take part in this project wholeheartedly regardless of my initially fears. I once read somewhere that fear stood for False Evidence Appearing Real. Troy and I were just friends, why should I be afraid of a healthy and blossoming new friendship with Troy. In that very moment I was happy, very happy and I didn't want it to end.

That was Monday, today was Friday and Gabby and I were waiting for the Boys to finish practice because they'd offered to give us rides home. We had another fifteen minutes to go and were currently catching up seeing as we hadn't really talked one on one most of the week. She was smitten with Chad and I was well busy with working on this week's tasks with Troy. We'd decided to do all the work during the week so we could have the weekend free, instead of doing it on the weekend. I had certainly had my eyes opened by Troy who liked poetry funnily enough, played the guitar and had been arrested before for getting into a fight in the mall last year. Troy Bolton was quite the character and nothing added up with him. I on the other hand had told him I loved formula one racing, I wrote poetry; I loved Jesus and wanted to learn to play the drums.

"You know that day on the grass Tay, you realise that you and Troy were shamelessly flirting right?" She said laughing at me

"We were not! And anyway this is coming from the girl who was blushing at everything that came out of Chad's mouth!" I retorted

"Yeah I know I was flirting I'm not afraid to admit it! You on the other hand..."She giggled as I glared at her

"That's because there is nothing to admit!"

"Hmm Hmm and pigs can fly too" She said getting up from her seat when she saw Chad and Troy approaching us, freshly cleaned up from the showers.

"Hey Brie, Hey Taylor" Chad said smiling as he hugged Gabby "You ready to go? I don't want us to miss our reservations" He asked as Gabby gathered her stuff together. They had a diner date tonight that they didn't want to be late for. Gabby nodded and quickly kissed my cheek before leaving with Chad. Those two were too cute, I'm sure tonight was going to be the night he officially made her his girlfriend.

I smiled at the thought as I walked next to Troy who also seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts. He opened the door for me to get into the passenger side and smiled as he went round the driver's side.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" I asked as we drove

"Why? Are you asking me out tomorrow Tay?" He replied amused

"Far from it, I want to show you somewhere I love" I said smiling because I knew I'd taken him by surprise. He would be even more surprised when we get there tomorrow.

"Oh really? Well then I guess I'm all yours tomorrow Mckessie" He said smiling as he eyes sparkled with excitement

"Good now pick me up at 10 because we have to be there early oh but can I drive us there though?" I asked

"Sure just don't crash my car" He replied as we approached my house.

"See you tomorrow Tay" He said as we pulled into the front of my house. I smiled and begun to get out of his car.

"Tomorrow Troy" I said before running into my front door and figuring out what to wear for, we weren't going anywhere special, just somewhere I liked to let off steam every once in a while. There was a point in ninth grade when I was addicted to the place but once I got really serious about my studies and church duties I had less and less time to spend there.

It was 10.30 and Troy and I were pulling into the Albuquerque car racing track centre. I smiled at the shocked expression on Troy's face as we parked; I had told him I was into formula one racing earlier on in the week. I had made us come early because it meant we would be the only ones on the tracks until about 12 this afternoon which is when it was open for the public. However my Dad had been the local champion back when he was younger, if he hadn't gone to law school he probably would have made it big, that's what Max the man who owns this place tells me. My Dad and I had started coming here since I was nine and that's when I fell in love with cars. Max had said he'd have it open last night when I called to book a session.

"Racing huh?" He asked amused as we walked into the building to change and get suited up.

"Yeah, are you surprised?" I inquired

"Oh definitely"

"Good, now get ready to get your ass whooped!" I smiled at him

"Oh It's on baby" He replied laughing as he was led away to get his clothes and helmet. I laughed at him knowing I was going to beat him, if only he knew.

One hour and thirty minutes later, after completing three races of two which I had won. An exhausted Troy and I sat on the nearby park bench eating ice cream.

"I can't believe I got beat by a girl" He said shaking his head in disbelief

"Oh you better believe it! You didn't think I was going to take you there and then lose to you did you?" I teased

"But by a girl!" He was acting so cute right now I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey if it helps, I've been racing since I was nine, my dad taught me, he was the local champion when he was a teenager" I smiled proud of my father "And hey! Look at the pick Max took; you look cute in your racer's outfit. Obviously I look better seeing as I have the trophy in my hands" I teased before laughing at him.

"Whatever Tay I demand a rematch!"

"Why would you want to lose again?" I asked trying to hide the laughter in my voice

"Trust me that will not happen next time" He stated confidently, "So what you doing later on tonight?" He asked

I shrugged my shoulders "I don't have any plans, I'll probably see if Gabby wants to do something but I think she's busy with Chad why?"

"Well if you haven't got any plans yet then I was thinking maybe you wanna hang out?" He asked as he got up to put both our tubs of ice cream in a nearby bin.

"That's what we're doing now Troy" I said confused what was this boy on about.

"No I mean like I pick u up at seven or whatever and we could go to dinner or a movie or both?" He said as I fell into step with him, we were heading back to his car. I smiled finally getting it and feeling a little bit stupid.

"Oh! Right!" I laughed a little feeling nervous from my slight lack of common sense "Sure I'll see what my Dad says but it should be cool, I mean it's a not a date or anything it's just two good friends hanging out right? Oh I know! Maybe we should invite Zeke and Pay and Gabby and Chad to come too it'll be fun! We never get to hang out all together outside school" I said excited then stopping when I saw the look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked when he stopped walking

"Nothing, I meant as in just me and you go out to a movie and dinner _together_, as on a date" He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh... oh." I said, I hadn't planned on telling him this soon but I guess it was better now rather than later.

"It's okay Tay I get it if you're not into me in that way, I was just hoping you felt the same way I did" He said looking down

"No Troy slow down! It's not that... It's not that at all." I said before pausing and sighing

"what is it then?"

"Well, when my mum was alive I'd kind of made her a promise, one that I really can't break." I begun to bite my bottom lip wondering whether he'd believe me or not, I mean it was the truth after all.

"what kind of promise?" He asked

"That I wouldn't date until I was eighteen, when I made it I just thought that if I happened to find someone I liked in school then I'd just introduce them to her and if she likes them then maybe we could make an exception or whatever. But Troy she's not here and I really don't feel like I can break that promise now." I finished anticipating his reaction

"Oh... right" He paused "And you don't turn eighteen until May the 20th" He said, I was happy that he remembered my birthday, He paused again. I could see in his eyes he was trying to process the information and find a way round it, so I waited for him to speak again.

"But we can go out as friends though right?" He asked smiling again

"That we can do" I replied smiling and nodding my head

"Okay good I'll pick u up at 7 seven and take you out as a friend, no dinner just a movie that way it won't feel like you're breaking your promise" He said as we started to walk again

"Yeah that sounds good and I won't be lying to my Dad either when I tell him I'm going out with a friend to catch a movie!" I smiled satisfied as I got into his car

"Yep... Tay can I ask you something?"

"Shoot"

"If you hadn't made that promise, would you have said yes?"

I paused for a moment "yeah, I would have said yes Troy" I replied looking out of the window but not before catching the grin that crept up on his face.

"Tay... I'll wait for you" He said again

"Wait for me to do what?" I asked confused

"Wait until you turn eighteen to ask you out" He replied smiling at me

"Troy I don't want you to promise me that" I said looking at him and watching the smile fade

"Why? I want to; I was hoping you'd say the same thing back. I really like you Tay and if that's what it takes to get you then I'll do it. " He replied "Don't you want me to wait for you?" He asked looking hurt.

"I... I... I... I do Troy, I'm just scared you'll find some other girl you like along the way and I don't want to stop you from being happy. That's why I don't want you to make a promise you may not be able to keep" I sighed as we parked into my driveway "I don't want to get hurt Troy not now"

"Tay look at me" He said reaching over and grabbing my hand into his "I won't okay. I've been through the majority of the east high female population, you know that and right now I'm not too proud of that but none of them would even have me consider waiting for them. I don't know why I want to wait for you but I just know that I do. I don't want to look back at this and always wonder what if I had okay. I've known you properly for all of two weeks and when this project is done in another two weeks I don't want to have to think up stupid excuses to hang out with you. That's why I asked you out today so we can be more than friends because I know once it's done most people will go back to the status quo. I don't like the thought of waking up and not thinking of ways to annoy you during the day or ways to make you smile. I don't want you to walk past me in the hall way like you used and acknowledge me with a simple smile. I want to mean something in your world Tay, like you do in mine."

He smiled back at me as he saw the smile grow on my face, I meant something in his world I thought as butterflies grew in my stomach and I surprisingly found myself nodding my head.

"Ugh! Bolton, Trust you to do this to me!" I said laughing at the confused look on his face "I have been trying for the last two weeks not to feel anything for you; all you were was a study partner to me until Monday when I decided you were my friend no matter how much I denied it. That's all you were supposed to be. Why did you have to keep ruining my plans!" I exclaimed "I want you wait for me, I really do but I would never ever ask you to, right now I'm not sure I can fully agree to this because regardless of how I feel I want you to be happy with or without me and my Birthday is all of eight months away that's a very long time" I paused as he took in what I was saying

"I hear you Tay, but this is my decision okay, if you promise not to go falling for some other geeky guy from school because I've the way your friend Jackson stares at you and he wants to be more than just friends" He said smirking "Then I will do whatever it takes to be with you, okay? Whatever it takes Taylor. I won't ask you out on dates, we can just hang out as friends and I won't even try to kiss you no matter how much I want to, I just want to know that some part of you belongs to me so that I can do this"

"I promise" I heard myself say, those weren't the words that were meant to come out of my mouth I thought as I begun to panic knowing that I'd actually meant it.

"Then I promise too" He said as he leant his forehead on mine smiling at me, I closed my eyes as I realised what we'd just agreed to and let the happiness take over me. We had just promised to belong to each other for the next eight months until we could actually belong to each other, did we know what we were doing? Would we even make it? All I knew for certain was that if he was willing to try then so was I. I would forget my inhibitions and let life take me where it was supposed to.


	6. Unofficially official Part 1

Thank you SO much for your reviews! I'm really glad you enjoyed it guys  Here's the next chapter, read and review! I don't own any of the characters or the shops or films mentioned in this chapter btw I watched 'my sister's keeper' and it is an amazing film hence why I picked it, also i mention a few things that happened in the movie so sorry if I ruined it for you LOOL.

I had just jumped out of the shower and was getting ready for my date with Troy later on tonight. We were going as just friends so I wasn't going to dress up or anything. Troy and I were still technically just friends so I had to treat him like one. I grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans, and matched it with a light blue tank top. I grabbed a few bracelets and some long beaded necklaces with a pair of white pearl vintage earrings from the Kate Moss collection in 'Topshop' one of my favourite stores. I pulled out a pair of spotted white and blue flats and applied some mascara and lip balm, I left my hair straight and smiled to myself when I was comfortable at how I looked.

"Dad I'm going to a movie with my friend!" I shouted into the study where he was

"Okay! Keep your phone on and don't be late baby" He said as he popped his head through the side of the door.

"Okay Dad" I said smiling, as I walked out of the front door to meet Troy pulling up. I ran up and jumped in smiling at him.

"You look nice" he complimented smiling at me

"Could say the same about you" I replied "So what are we going to watch?" I asked

"Because I'm the gentleman I am, I'll let you decide" He winked as we sped down the road

"Well you are going to regret this but I've wanted to watch 'my sister's keeper' for a while now" I said as he groaned

"Oh come on Tay! That looks so depressing!"

"I know, but you did say I could choose so I have! Next time you can choose" I shrugged

"So there's going to be a next time" he said smirking as I shook my head

"Concentrate on driving Troy" I said rolling my eyes. We made small talk the whole way to the cinema and quickly buying out tickets so we didn't miss the 7.30 screening. Troy went to get the snacks during the commercials once we'd got our seats.

The film started and within the first five minutes I'd started tearing up and sniffing when I heard Troy grunt and put his arm around me pulling me close. By the end of the film I was all out crying, sounds and all but so was most of the cinema. I could have sworn when I looked up at Troy once his eyes glistened as though he had tears in his eyes. The film was so beautiful; it reminded of my Mum when she had cancer. Troy's shirt was soaking wet by the time I was done and its originally white state now had smudges of my mascara on its sleeve and chest.

"Sorry about your shirt" I said as I wiped my eyes one more time "But mascara doesn't stain" I smiled as he shook his head

"It's okay Tay, the film was really sad... I understand" He nodded as we went back to his car

"I know... aww she got to go to Prom! I can't believe he died and so did she and aww" I sniffed as I started tearing up again

"Girls are so weird" He muttered to himself as he shook his head

"You wanna go home or chill out some more Tay?" He asked before starting the car

"Hang out; let's get ice cream and go the swings!" I said laughing at his facial expression

"Ice cream? Tay it's nearly 10, no ice cream parlours are open at this time" He laughed

"Yeah but the store is! Come on it'll be fun... I promise" I pouted as he smiled and shook his head

"I have a feeling I'll never say no to that face" He muttered as we drove to the store and got a small tub chocolate ice cream and drove to a nearby park. We sat at table and started on the ice cream.

"Tay... do you mind if I tell you you're beautiful?" He asked as he dipped his spoon into the tub

"Nope tell me" I replied smiling as a ate another spoon full of ice cream

"You're beautiful Taylor Mckessie!"

"Now say it again!"

"You're beautiful Taylor!" he laughed

"Okay again!" I shouted as I got up and threw my hands up laughing

"You're beautiful" He said shouting and trying to pull me back down by my waist, I struggled free giggling and turned to run

"Bet you can't find me Troy Bolton" I shouted as I run into the dark towards the swings and the slide as I heard him get up to chase me.

I run faster the closer I heard him get before deciding to climb up the climbing frame and waiting for him to figure out where I'd hidden. I saw his eyes sparkle as they met mine from below, I smiled watching him climb up and meet me.

"I thought you were an athlete Troy? Can't keep up with little old me" I teased as I backed away from his advances

"I let you get away just so I could catch up Tay, even you know that" He said coming closer as I got to the edge of the climbing frame, climbed over to the other side of the rail and jumped down laughing at his shocked expression

"Catch me!" I screamed when he'd jumped down and followed me, he chased me until we both collapsed on the grass side by side laughing

"You're crazy" He laughed as he looked at me pushing hair out of my face

"Why do you sound so surprised?" I questioned laughing as he pulled me closer into his chest, rubbing my bare arms up and down.

"I don't know" He whispered into my ear before our eyes met, I looked away before we got caught up and I did something I know I'd regret. I buried my head into his chest as we lay there for a while. I listened to the stead beat of his heart and smiled to myself before pulling myself closer to him.

"Okay, Tay tell me again what he said when he told you, I can't believe it you guys are going out without out going out... If that makes sense" Gabby said from her side of the bed, it was Sunday night and I'd slept over at hers after church. Sharpay was on a weekend spa break and wouldn't be back until tomorrow night or something like that.

"Gabby I've said it three times now I can't keep repeating the story like a broken record, anyway we got school tomorrow and it's after 1 o'clock we need to get to sleep G" I replied rolling my eyes as I snuggled deeper into the cover of her bed.

"But Tay it's so romantic, I can't believe he's going to wait, you should have seen the way he was looking at you at church this morning when we were singing! Awww Tay!" She squealed as proceeded to hug me

"G will you stop it! You're making me shy!" I said pushing her away "Anyway let's talk about you and Danforth, so you're official eh?" I said turning the topic back to her; I wasn't really in the mood to talk about me and Troy right now.

"As official as official gets" she replied yawning "I really like him Tay and I can't seem to help it, he just makes me smile." She continued smiling

"I know Gabby and I am seriously happy for you, who would have thought this would happen in our senior year! This wasn't part of our plan remember! but seriously can we get to sleep you know we have to be up earlier seeing as neither of us are getting rides to school tomorrow" Gabby lived slightly closer than I did to school and so we'd decided to walk instead of getting rides. We hadn't spent much time together recently and wanted to get as much time together as we could before school.

"Okay okay Goodnight Taylor Anne Mckessie-Montez... Bolton" She teased as she rolled over on her other side facing away from me.

"Goodnight Gabriella dumbass Montez-Mckessie" I said as I heard her giggle, I closed my eyes and lost myself in my dreams, truth was I was nervous about tomorrow. I wasn't sure how I should act with Troy. We weren't official because we couldn't be and we weren't un-official. I just don't know.

The ten minute walk to school from Gabby's house that morning was so refreshing, we talked and laughed the whole way there like we used to before Chad and Troy. Recently I hadn't spent more than thirty minutes at a go without her before being dragged away by Chad or me by Troy. It was neither one of our faults, I just wasn't ready to share my best friend with anyone yet I guess especially not Chad and this morning had reminded me why. However all was cool with me because she was happy and so was I and it meant the little time we did spend together was never taken for granted.

I had just split from Gabby at her locker with was a three lockers away from mine and we'd found an eager Chad waiting for her, ready to announce to the whole world that the beautiful Gabriella Montez belonged to him. He was so cute, I'd left them looking into each other's eyes with cheesy grins plastered on their faces.

I was taking out some books I needed before homeroom when I heard an all too familiar voice speak to me.

"Good morning Mckessie" He whispered as he leant up against the locker next to mine and I turned to face him smiling.

"Hey" I replied shyly before looking away. He tucked some of my hair behind my ear and smiled at me before we begun walking side by side.

"Here let me help you with your bag" He said tugging at the handle of my book bag, I nodded as I released it and let him hold it, our hands brushed against each other and we both looked at each other before smiling as we entered homeroom. He took his seat next to me and nothing else was said between us as we waited for Mr. Smith to walk in and tell us the final topic.

The final week of the project which was next week was to be used to put it all together. This week's project was the _future_ which included dreams, future plans and where we saw ourselves in ten years. Well I knew exactly where I was going to be in ten years time and it was nowhere near Albuquerque. I would either be working for the president or working towards getting a job in the white house, or I would be fighting for justice in the UN. Like I said nowhere near Albuquerque, I was a small town girl with huge dreams and I wasn't afraid to fight for them. I wonder where Troy was thinking of being in ten years time, would he still be here in Albuquerque, would he be married, would he have children, would we still be friends, would I even know him, _furthermore would we be together_? All these questions messed with me all day especially the last one.

"Tay you've been distant all day today are you okay?" Troy said from opposite me, we had study hall and we were working on our project in the library. He was sticking a few pictures of us from last week on an A3 piece of paper while I was currently day dreaming.

"Yeah I'm good... I was just thinking about the future like for the project" I replied smiling at his concerned blue eyes.

"Oh right... so what do you have planned for the future Tay?" He asked as he put down the glue stick that was in his hand.

"Oh you know I'm just another girl who wants to change the world, so not much really" I smiled as he laughed at me shaking his head.

"Well you've certainly changed my world Tay" he whispered as he eyes sparkled at me.

"Still the smooth talker, aren't we Bolton, can't have changed it that much" I teased

"Oh trust me; you've changed it more than I'd like to admit. You're bad for my reputation you know that?"

"Yeah I know that's why I plan on hanging around for a while" I replied

"Only a while?" He asked smirking

"Only a little while Bolton" I laughed

"We'll see about that Tay, a while might just turn into forever" He winked as I laughed

"Is that so?"

"It is."

"We'll see... what do you have planned Troy?"

"Nothing, I just want to see where life takes me. I don't see the point on planning my future, life will lead me exactly where it wants me to go. Right now I plan on finishing high school and going to college on a Basketball scholarship to study Medicine hopefully and anything after that I really don't know or really care for" he said shrugging his shoulders

"Medicine... Wow I didn't expect that!"

"Yeah hopefully... right now I just wanna concentrate on finishing school... and asking you out on May 20th are as far as my plans get." He said smiling as I blushed at his last few words

"But no further plans?"

"Nope"

"But don't you have dreams and ambitions and things you have to achieve before you die?"

"Everyone does but I just don't base my whole life on them. I want to see the whole world but that's it."

"Oh okay" Who doesn't have plans; everyone has plans without plans how do you know where you're going, without goals how do know you've achieved anything! I guess that was the point, you don't know where you're going. You travel the road that's put in front of you until you land on a new road and that was Troy; nothing but a free spirit whose soul followed the wind and nothing else. Is that why I liked him because he was everything I couldn't be, he felt everything I wouldn't allow myself to feel? He lived his life whilst I scheduled mine.

It was now Friday and the boys had a game that we'd promised to go and watch, honestly basketball was never my strong point and Troy had been trying to explain the game to me all week with no avail. All I knew was something about assistants and something about a three point shot and defence and offence and even now I didn't know what half the words I just said mean. I said I'd scream whenever our team scored and scream double loud when he scored. Sharpay, Gabby and I had just got seated and the wildcats were now making their way out of the locker rooms and we'd all stood up to scream and clap. I could see Troy's eyes searching the room for us quickly before he spotted us in the middle of the crowd and smiled at me satisfied.

"Girl check out number nine on the other team he is fine!" Said Sharpay making both me and Gabby stare, she was right number nine was fine. He was all caramel skin and grey eyes, a bit like a younger version of Michael Ealy. I think he was the captain of the West High which is who they were playing.

"Oh yeah he is!" I exclaimed smiling before realising I was smiling at him he was already smiling back at me.

"Hmm Hmm he is but Chad is so much cuter" Gabby said causing me and Shar to roll our eyes, she was so smitten with him right now and their new public relationship had been the talk of the whole school not that anyone was surprised but people just wanted to talk so they talked. It was sad but some people were even making bets on when Chad would cheat on her for a cheerleader which wasn't going to happen, he'd even given her his ring that stated she was his. Troy said he'd never given any girl that before so he pretty much felt the same way Gabby did and anyone with a good pair of eyes could see that.

"Tay I think he just smiled at you" Shar said winking at me and I rolled my eyes at her antics. We continued watching the game, by watching we mean checking out players on the other team and ranking them in order of cutest.

The Wildcats won of course although only by three points I wasn't sure if this was a good win or not but it was a win all the same, we run down the stands to meet the boys but Troy was currently being hugged by his Dad who was also the coach and I didn't want to intrude, especially as I hadn't been officially introduced to him. I stood back watching the interaction before I felt some tap my shoulder.

"Excuse me" He said as I turned around

"Erm... hey" I replied smiling back and wondering why number nine was now talking to me

"Hey, I don't usually do this" He said smiling

"Do what?" I asked

"You know talk to the enemy" He said as we both laughed

"Deshaune" He said holding out his hand for me to shake and of course I accepted it

"Taylor" I replied

"Yo D quit hitting on the poor girl, lets bounce man!" A boy from his team shouted as he signalled to the boy in front of me to leave

"Looks like you have to go" I said smiling before realising we were both still holding hands

"Yeah I do; how about you give me your number and we talk some more later" He said as I let go of his hand

"I'm sorry I can't" I smiled apologetically

"That's okay ma, I should have known a beautiful girl like you would have a man" he said "See you round Taylor" He smiled as he turned to walk away

"Nice meeting you Deshaune" I smiled as I turned around just to bump straight into Troy who wasn't looking very pleased with Gabby, Shar, Chad and Zeke standing behind him. I caught Gabby's eye and she looked about as nervous as I felt, but I didn't have anything to feel nervous about. I hadn't done anything except from be polite to a very good looking boy. Sharpay was just waiting for the drama to kick off so she could jump in. I could see the glint in her eye and I wanted to laugh but thought better of it.

"Hey Troy! Nice game!" I said smiling up at him, his eyes were now shinning a very unhappy dark blue and I knew then something was going to go down.

"Nice of you to finally realise who you're here to see Tay" He spat out causing me to flinch

I rolled my eyes at him annoyed at his stupid behaviour "I was coming to see you but you were talking to your dad so I waited back and he started talking to me" I said explaining myself "You know what! Why am I even explaining myself I haven't done anything wrong!" I replied

"So why are you being so defensive!" He questioned, I couldn't believe it,

"Because you're being a Jerk! Troy why are you acting so possessive I'm not even your girlfriend!" I said annoyed before putting my hand over my mouth as I saw the hurt look on his face realising what I'd just said.

"I didn't mean it like that Tr..."I started to say reaching out to grab his hand which he quickly snatched away from me.

"No Tay I heard you loud and clear" he said putting his hands up "I heard you loud and clear" he repeated as he walked away leaving me facing the shocked looks on our friends faces.

Yep I left it there guys R&R  LOL don't wri I'm just about to post the second half


	7. Unofficially official Part 2

I knew I was wrong for that but he was being stupid, Chad quickly said something to Gabby before leaving to go after his friend. Zeke was torn between his cousin and his best friend and I knew he felt uncomfortable.

"Zeke it's okay go after Troy, I'll be fine" I said smiling at him, he looked at Shar and nodded before turning to leave.

"Tay... Are you okay?" Gabby said taking my hand

"You know I'm completely on your side on this one, he was being a jerk" Sharpay added in "He was probably just jealous because the boy was fine as hell and like you said you guys aren't official anyway" He shrugged her shoulders as we went back to sit down on the benches in the hall.

"Yeah but you know the deal with us... I was wrong for what I said" I replied shaking my head

"That doesn't change the fact he was being over possessive, you're not a possession Tay and he needs to stop acting like you are, boys will talk to you Tay you're beautiful of course they will. He needs to trust you enough to know that when they do you won't give them the time of day because you are with him... kind of" Gabby said while Sharpay nodded her head furiously

"I guess your right, so what now?" I asked

"Well I've got my car and so has Zeke so either of us can give you a ride home and I'm sure Chad's waiting on Gabby" Shar said getting up and hugging me before Gabby did too and we walked out to try and find the boys. So Troy and I had had our first argument and I wasn't completely sure how to feel about it. Chad had waited on Gabby and given her a ride, I was sitting in Sharpay's car thinking about what Troy was doing whilst Sharpay was singing along Beyonce single ladies as loud as she could. I needed Gabby right now to help me realise everything was fine, I hated the fact I'd hurt Troy especially as we'd had such a great week.

He'd given me a ride to school every morning, and waited for me in between classes. He'd sit in the library with me during study even when he didn't have work to do or when we weren't working on our project and I was just doing extra work. On Wednesday he'd even had a cup of coffee waiting for me in his car when he picked me up for school because he knew I'd been up late the night before working on a chemistry project and talking to him on the phone in between. Thursday he'd come with me after school to the book store so I could buy the limited vintage edition of 'Wuthering Heights', one of my favourite Victorian novels even though I already had a copy of the book. He'd even paid for the book while I was looking around to see if there was something else I wanted while I was there. The way he laughed at my facial expressions when I didn't understand what he was talking about when he was explaining the rules to basketball and he'd later drawn a little chart for me with different coloured stick men so I could understand because he knew I had a photographic memory.

I sighed, why did I miss him when he hadn't gone anywhere. He was there but right now he was completely out of my reach because I'd messed up and I was on the defensive because we were having the kind of fight only couples were meant to have and we weren't a couple. Sharpay pulled up into my drive and gave me a kiss on the cheek before got out and walked inside. My dad was home because his car was in the drive way.

"Hey Daddy" I said as I walked in finding him in the living room

"Hey baby, how was the game?" He asked

"We won, daddy can I have a hug?" I asked as I sat down next to him on the couch

"Sure baby, what's wrong?" He said as he wrapped his arms around me

"It's just been a long day" I replied snuggling closer into his embrace and he didn't push the matter any further. We watched T.V. for a while longer before deciding to go to bed.

I woke the next morning happy that it was a Saturday before realising that Troy and I we still not talking and we were meant to be hanging out today at his house. He'd invited me over to watch movies and chill out. He also said he'd teach me some basketball. I looked at the time and realised I'd over slept. If he was still planning on picking me he'd be here in an hour at 12 and it was already 11 now. I quickly run into the shower down the hall and showered and washed my hair, before grabbing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a white t-shirt from my closet. I put on a pair of red pumps and brushed out my hair leaving it wavy. I looked at the clock and saw it was 12, there was no time to eat or put on make-up not that I wore much. I run downstairs grabbing a grey cardigan on my way out and sat on my door step. Waiting and hoping that he'd keep the date regardless of our fight earlier.

Half an hour later I realised he wasn't coming, I went back inside and called Gabby to see what she was doing.

"Hey Tay" she said into the phone yawning slightly

"Hey G, were you still sleeping?" I asked

"Yeah, Chad and I went to a movie after the game and I got in late, so what's up?"

"G can I come over?" I sighed into the phone

"sure sure, you okay?"

"Yeah I just need some G time, I think I can still hear Sharpay's voice in my ear singing single ladies from last night on the way home" I laughed

"Okay girl, just come over whenever you're ready, I think my mum's gone shopping but you know where the spare key is in case I'm in the shower when you get here" She said as she hung up.

I grabbed my purse and started on my ten minute walk to her house. I got there to find Gabby just stepping out of the shower as I made myself comfortable in her room. I was watching T.V. while she got dressed.

"Okay Tay so haven't you talked to Troy yet?" She asked as she sat opposite me on the love seat in the corner of her room.

"No, he hasn't called me and we had planned to meet today, you know before the whole fight thing happened and I got ready hoping he'd still come but he never came, so I guess he's still mad"

"Aww I'm sorry Tay" She said throwing me a chocolate bar from her mini fridge

"Thanks... anyway why don't we go to the mall or something we haven't been shopping since this whole project begun"

"Okay why don't we call Shar and see if she wants to come, plus she's the only one of us who has a car" She suggested, I nodded and called Sharpay but she was out shopping with Zeke already and said she'd just see us when we got there.

"Okay well we could always just catch the bus, or I could call Chad and see if he'd give us a ride there and then we could dump him with Zeke and catch up with them later or something"

"Already trying to get rid of him are we G" I teased as she dialled the number and called him. He was over within ten minutes and twenty minutes later we were at the mall. We met Shar and Zeke at the food court and left the boys there as we embarked on our own adventures. We had just left 'Topshop' after purchasing the some new jeans from the Kate Moss range and few new tops and we were on the way to the next store when I heard someone call my name.

"TAYLOR!" I turned around to meet Deshaune from the game last night and smiled as he walked over, ignoring the look Gabby gave me.

"Hey" he said smiling as he nodded at Gabriella and Sharpay

"Hey yourself" I replied

"So what you doing?" he asked

"Shopping" I held up my bags, "I would have thought it was obvious" I said laughing

"you got jokes huh" He asked

"I try, so what's up?... oh excuse me, Shar and Gabby this is Deshaune, Deshaune this is Sharpay and Gabriella" I said introducing them

"Sup" He said nodding at the as they smiled back.

"Anyway it was nice bumping into you Deshaune, but we really have to go" I explained as he nodded disappointedly

"Okay well I won't keep you, and I know you can't give me your number but how about you take mine and if you ever want to hang out give me a call" he said as he scribbled his number on a piece of paper and handed it to me before I could object. I smiled as he left.

"Girl he is something fine" Sharpay stated as Gabby nodded "And he is completely hitting on you right now, good thing Troy isn't here" She said as Chad, Zeke and Troy approached us in time to see him walking off again. I sighed knowing it was about to kick off again and wondering when the hell Troy had got here.

An awkward silence went over the group as the boys looked at us. I looked at Troy trying to see what his reaction was going to be and saw that they were completely blank.

"Hey" Both me and him said at the same time.

"Erm, we are just going to leave you guys to it, Tay just call if you need us okay" Gabby said dragging an objecting Sharpay away, that girl just loved he drama I thought as she tugged herself free from Gabby and stormed off to the food court. I turned back to look at Troy.

"Sorry" We both said at the same time again before letting out nervous laughter.

"You go" He said as we sat down on a bench nearby. I sighed and proceeded to apologise for what felt like the millionth time to Troy. Seemed like I was always messing up with us.

"I keep messing up with us Troy, I know I do but I'm scared. I'm freaking out that we might fail at whatever it is we're trying to do, this thing, us, it's new and I don't deal well with change or surprises or anything I'm not in control of, not to mention the idea of failure" I laughed slightly before realising he didn't find it funny and continued

"I just don't know how to feel, the fight we had last night, it felt like a couples fight and we can't be a couple or else I'm not honouring my promise and that scares me regardless of the fact I made it when I was thirteen. I'm sorry if I hurt you because I know I did, but I'm just trying to deal with this the best way I can. This morning when I hoped you'd come and you didn't... it hurt Troy and what scared more than the fact we might fail is that last night I missed you and you hadn't gone anywhere, you were mad at me and I couldn't reach you and it scared me that I missed you Troy" I finished as I searched his eyes for some answers that I wasn't seeming to find.

"I hate not having control of my feelings, and you do that to me and I'm just scared to let myself go and feel whatever it is I'm supposed to feel for you in case I get hurt. Promises are easy to make in high school and just as easy to break." I finished looking down

"Taylor, I was just jealous because you're not mine, you aren't officially my girlfriend which means I don't have a right to warn other guys off you. That scares me, you're free to fall in love with and fall for anyone you want, you have no obligation to me and it scares me because right now I can't imagine even considering being with or dating someone that isn't you. Something led me to you and I want to know why. When I saw you with Dickface..."

"Deshaune" I said interrupting much to his displeasure

"Whatever. When I saw the way he looked at you and saw him holding your hand when I haven't even held your hand properly like that... like a boy with his girl should... I don't know something in me just snapped like I should be the one holding your hand and looking at you like that. I've never been the jealous type, I haven't even ever fallen for a girl to get jealous and I don't know if I'm falling or infatuated but whatever it is, it's not going away. Last night proved it; as soon as I walked away it felt like I'd left something behind and it took me a while to realise that something was you. I don't ever want to walk away from you, from this, from us not when we haven't even had a chance to see what we could be. I'm just sorry I got jealous okay, I don't want other boys to touch you" He said smirking slightly

"Promises are easy to make, you're right but when I promised to wait for you it wasn't made lightly I meant every word I said and I still do no matter how stubborn you are... I just don't want other boys to touch you" He repeated smiling this time

"I don't want other boys to touch me either, but he was just being friendly, I told him I couldn't give out my number and he left okay, whether we're official or not you're the only boy I've met so far that I can't figure out and I will figure you out Troy Bolton if it's the last thing I do. Can we not fight anymore please, I don't like having to ride with Gabby and Chad to the mall" I teased

"That's all I am to you, a free ride to the mall? I feel so used!" He said smiling "So what did he want now then?" He asked

"who?"

"Dickface" he said as I rolled my eyes and decided to tell him the truth

"To give me his number" I replied nervously taking out the piece of paper from my pocket and showing him

"WHAT!" He shouted as I laughed causing people to look at us. At least we were officially talking again, I sighed relieved.

"Let's not fight again please" I repeated pouting as he calmed down and pulled me into a hug which I returned.


	8. I really like you

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS GUYS I'M REALLY GLAD YOUR ENJOYING THE STORY, THIS NEXT CHAPTER IS A BIT LONG, AND I HAVEN'T SPELL CHECKED IT PROPERLY SO PLEASE EXCUSE ANY MISTAKES, I WAS TRYING TO MAKE SURE I COULD UPDATE FOR TODAY. ALSO THERE ARE GOING TO BE A FEW TWISTS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER AND IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE FROM TROY'S POV... I WONT SAY ANYTHING ELSE EXCEPT R&R.

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"_True love comes quietly without banners or flashing lights_

_If you hear bells, get your ears checked"_

That was a quote I once heard or read somewhere, but now I know what it means, there was nothing to warn you when you were falling in love. You were completely blinded when it happened and for me that meant denial. It had been nearly six months since Troy and I's unofficial 'officialness' if that was even a word. Things had been good since the whole Deshaune drama (except for one incident but I'll get on that later) that is after I let him rip the number up and throw it in the trash. Gabby and Chad were going strong; they were approaching their sixth month anniversary and were seriously in love even if neither had said it to each other yet. It was obvious, they were over the whole honeymoon stage where they couldn't be separated and seemed to mature into a serious high school couple who everyone else had dubbed the 'golden couple'. We all thought they'd get married and have cute children after high school; I bet they thought so too.

Sharpay and Zeke were a whole other story. They were approaching their four month anniversary. It had taken them two months to make it official, even though we all knew they were official way before then. They were crazy, well Shar was crazy and no one understood how they made it work. But they did and they would continue to make it work if Sharpay Evans had her way. They were the only ones of the group who had applied to the same colleges because they planned on staying together even after high school and nothing was going to stop them. Not a single one of us doubted they'd make it, Sharpay Evans always got what she wanted, and it was a known fact.

On the other hand Troy and I were still in between the lines; well so the rest of the east high population thought seeing as it had been six months and neither of us had made it official. We didn't kiss or hold hands or doing anything couples were meant to do. Troy and I barely even hugged in school, sure everyone knew we were friends, in fact they thought we were best friends well that's what they'd dubbed us anyway. However that bighead Troy had almost blown everything on the day of our project presentation and that's what caused us to tone our friendship in public, our hearts however were another issue.

_5 months earlier... _

_I had just walked into school on Monday morning. It was the day everyone shared their projects to the class and we were all excited. I could people carry huge big bags in which their projects were kept in order to keep them secret until they could reveal them in homeroom. I was itching to know what Troy had done and how he'd presented it, we'd been busy working on the final touches all weekend and hadn't seen each until Sunday when he came to church with me. But even then we didn't get to talk much because my Dad had hurried me home after the service. My Dad had given me a ride to school this morning so I still hadn't talked to Troy except last night on the phone but we were both too tired to have a proper conversation._

_I walked into homeroom to find Troy ready and seated in deep thought in a room full of buzzing students each bursting to know what was going to be the talk of the school by the end of homeroom, if I had known it be me and Troy._

"_A penny for your thoughts" I asked as I sat next to him rubbing his arm_

"_Oh I think you're worth more than a penny Tay" He smiled as he turned to look at me_

"_Aww, thinking about me again" I smiled shyly at the compliment_

"_I missed you this weekend" He said looking into my eyes_

"_I missed you too" I whispered as I felt my cheeks grow hotter, thankfully Mr. Smith walked in before anything else could be said. There had been a lot rumours about in school for the last two weeks, speculation over what exactly out relationship was, some thought we were friends with benefits, others said we were secretly going out because our parents don't like interracial relationships but no one thought we were just friends._

"_Okay class, I'm as excited as you to see what you have achieved with this project so let's get started!" He smiled as Sharpay and Zeke went up to get things started. Sharpay told us about Zeke and his love for cooking, as well as his love for dance which no one had anticipated. He'd taken her to watch a musical at the local theatre and learnt that she wasn't an Ice queen but a woman who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. The slide about their future simply said 'together' causing the class to aww at them._

_Next were Ryan and Kelsi, then Jason and Martha, followed by Tiara and Tyrone, and then Ashley and Nick. The presentations were coming to a close; Chad and Gabby had just finished and had the class, well the girls nearly in tears with their presentation. Mainly Chad; it was clear then that he was completely whipped. Gabby couldn't keep the smile off her face as she walked back to her seat. Troy and I got up grabbing our things. I started the project off._

"_Troy Anthony Bolton" I said as the screen behind me flashed on a picture of Troy holding the Trophy that the wildcats won last year. I looked at him before continuing,_

"_He's a free spirit; he walks the road of life without caution. He is fearless, unafraid and free in every sense of the word. He doesn't know where he's going and he doesn't care. He simply enjoys the excitement that comes with living life. We all forget how to live life every once in a while, I know I do. I get caught up in school work and planning for my future, a future that I'm not guaranteed I'll ever see, that I forget to enjoy the moments of right now. Troy doesn't he's different, he likes places" I said as I showed a picture I'd taken of him at the cliff, followed by one of him in his place of peace _

"_He likes seeing the things that we simply pass by each day, he's got dreams just like the rest of us but he doesn't surround his life around them. He has no room for failure or disappointment he only has room for life. He is our Wildcat, he leads and he encourages. He likes rock climbing and surfing, he likes poetry and he plays the guitar. He's arrogant and charming and he knows it. There are so many faces to Troy Bolton and I'm still trying to figure him out, he's like the greatest rollercoaster ride. You never know what the next turn will hold, but it's never going to be boring. All I truly know about Troy Bolton is that he's my friend; he is a boy with a peaceful soul. Troy Bolton makes me want to live life a little like he does." I finished smiling at him for him to go._

"_Taylor Anne Mckessie" He said as my embarrassing Decathlon picture went up. I glared at him and he winked at me before continuing. _

"_She once told me all she planned to do was change the world and I believe her because Taylor Anne Mckessie changed my world in the space of a month, Imagine what she'll do in a lifetime." He said as my cheeks begun to burn from the stares everyone was giving us._

"_She's braver than she thinks; life knocks her down and she bounces straight back up. She's got this faith in life that I have never seen in anyone and she makes me want to believe in fairy tales. Taylor believes in God, sometimes I do too but Taylor doesn't have doubts when it comes to God. Did you know Taylor could sing, she's in her church choir and Taylor likes formula one. She's beat me twice" He paused as the picture of us at the track showed up._

"_Taylor spends some Saturdays feeding the homeless at the local shelter. Taylor likes routine, she likes structure and she likes to know where she's going, I don't fit in to her mold because I do things without thinking and I mess things up and sometimes get them wrong. But Taylor doesn't fail and sometimes her fear of failure will stop her from taking risks, but I believe in Taylor Mckessie, so fiercely independent and sure of herself. She amazes me sometimes; she's brilliant, crazy and exciting. She makes me get jealous of the world because I know one day I'll have to share her with the world. I'm not ready to share her with the world and I doubt the world is ready for the force that is Taylor. She will run rings around it like she does around me. As corny as this sounds, I'm just sorry it took some stupid project for me to get to know you, because you're the most excellent person I have ever met Mckessie." He said finishing and I saw the picture of me at the cliff with my arms held out smiling at him. I felt his eyes land on me, I was too shy to look up and simply quickly made my way to my seat without looking at him._

_The class was silent as they watched the interaction between us; the bell went signally for the end of homeroom. I still hadn't said anything, I really didn't know what to say, and I felt my heart speed up and walked out of the class room avoiding the gazes and whispers I was getting._

"_TAYLOR!" I heard him call_

"_Tay wait up!" He said grabbing my arm and making me turn around. The hall grew silent_

"_Troy everyone is looking" I whispered_

"_Taylor I really don't care!" he said as he looked around "What is going on with you? Did I say something wrong?"_

"_No... No, can we talk about this later please?" I asked feeling embarrassed that everyone's attention was on me_

"_Tay just tell me okay" He said concern growing in his eyes and voice_

"_You didn't do anything wrong Troy, I'm just trying to get to class on time" I insisted avoiding his eyes_

"_You're lying I know you are" His voice getting frustrated_

"_Troy drop it!" I said through clenched teeth, I felt claustrophobic and he wasn't helping, I caught Gabby's eye and pleaded with her to get me out of here with my eyes hoping she understood, she did and quickly came over, followed by Sharpay who was shouting at everyone to stop staring._

_Gabby took hold of my arm saying "Troy, Taylor will catch up with you later okay. We're going to be late for class" as we walked away. I turned round to meet Troy's angry eyes before looking away again._

"_Don't ask please" I said as Gabby nodded before glaring at Sharpay who was about to object_

"_Fine!" Pouted Sharpay as she crossed her arms "But I'm just letting you know Mckessie that boy is in love with you and apart from the whole promise why do you keep running from him each time he puts himself out there. It's not fair on him, he's been completely honest about how he feels about you but you're so up and down, poor guy he practically told the whole class he loved you!" whose side was she on anyway_

"_Exactly" I muttered, why did he do that? He doesn't know what love is and we were definitely not in love. We liked each other a lot, a whole lot but we were not in love. _

_I went to my lessons that day and kept a low profile, I spent lunch hiding out in the library, and Gabby had snuck me in a sandwich before she left to meet Chad for lunch. We had study period next thank God, I wouldn't have to go back out the library until after school I thought._

"_So you wanna tell me why you're avoiding me Taylor" Troy said from behind me_

"_I'm not avoiding you, I've got work to do Troy" I sighed as he sat next to me_

"_The book is upside down" He said reffering to the book in my hand that I was pretending to read_

"_Yeah I read like this sometimes, It helps train you're brain to see things from a different angle" I replied sarcastically _

"_Taylor stop trying to be cute, what's the deal with you this morning?" He asked raising his voice_

"_I don't know why don't you tell me!" I replied_

"_What are you talking about! Don't play games okay!" He shouted frustrated before the librarian came in and told us to take our noise outside. _

"_Now look what you did!" I said as we stepped out into the hallway_

"_Don't even start that Tay, just tell me what the heck is going on with you, one second you're okay with me the next you're avoiding me!"_

"_I'm not avoiding you, I told you I had work to do"_

"_And I told you, you were lying! You know what when you're ready to be mature about this call me!" He said turning to walk away_

"_You said you'd never walk away from me again!" I shouted after him causing him to stop "You also promised you wouldn't argue with me! I guess you break promises as quick as you make them Troy Bolton" I shouted as he turned around, his eyes fuming. He marched toward me and shook his head letting out a slightly bitter laugh_

"_Don't give me that Taylor! You're the one purposely starting an argument for no good reason. I'm not walking away and I sure as hell am not arguing with you. YOU ARE ARGUING WITH ME!" He half yelled _

"_So this is what I'm doing, I'm walking away so you can figure it out because I don't think you know why we're fighting either... and one more thing Taylor, if you keep pushing me away one day I will walk away and I promise you I won't turn around" He said icily as he walked away._

"_Troy... don't walk away please" I whispered hoping he heard me,_

"_I'm sorry, I don't know why were fighting either and I know I keep pushing you away..." I said as I walked toward him nervously_

"_I'm not sure why I'm fighting with you... please just don't walk away okay. I know I'm crazy and up and down when it comes to you but that's only because I get so confused with us. Nothing makes sense with you and then I get my feelings all muddled up and I get angry and take it out on you and get all defensive because I'm losing control... and I'm sorry" I said taking a big breathe after I finished, looking up at him hoping he understood._

"_Troy I keep hoping you'd mess up for once just so I'd have a reason to not like you, but then you don't and I do so I can give you a reason not to like me and to walk away from this. It's like I'm looking for a reason to walk away from this because then I'd be back in control of my heart and I can't find one, not one single reason" I replied whispering the last part as I bit back the tears in my eyes_

"_So this is what this is about, you want to walk away?" He asked hurt_

"_No... I don't, not really. I'm just trying not to fall and it feels like that's all I've been doing since I met you... falling... for you." I replied looking down_

"_Taylor I've already fallen for you, you know that and I know that and I'm sure the whole school knows that after this morning; I've never tried to hide how I feel about you, I'm honest about it to you and to our friends. I just wish you'd trust me enough to know I'd never intentionally hurt you; I wish you'd trust me enough with your heart" He said looking disappointed at me_

"_Don't you get it Troy, You already have my heart and that is scaring me because I didn't give it you, you just came and you... you... you stole it!" I replied pointing at him as we both laughed_

"_Then lock me up! But I don't plan on giving it back any time soon" He whispered as he hugged me, "Stop feeling guilty about your mom, you promised you wouldn't date you didn't promise not to fall in love" He said as he hugged me tighter_

"_So lets fall in love, and if it makes you feel better I'll back off. No more one on one outings okay, we'll go out with the gang or something but no unofficial official dates yeah?" He said as I nodded once more and smiled knowing that his arms is where I belonged no matter how much I denied it. Like he said, my mom told me not to date she didn't mention anything about falling in love. _

"_Let's fall in love Bolton" I replied as we walked out of school together, his arm over my shoulder and my arm around his waist. _

"_So you still think I'm the most excellent person you've ever met?" I smirked looking up at him_

Let's fall in love he said that day and that's all we've been doing since that day. It feels like I'm still falling right now as I wait for him to finish practice. He'd been true to his word, we didn't go out one on one anymore, we'd go out with Gabby and Chad or Zeke and Sharpay or if everyone was hanging out we'd be there too because we knew that was the only time we got together outside school. Of course he'd pick me up for school and drop me off and he'd come to church on Sundays but we were surrounded by lots of people there so it never really counted. When our friends we're out on their own one on one dates was the hardest because then we'd both be at home alone, wishing we were together and knowing we couldn't be. I often went to my mum's grave and talked to her about Troy, she would have liked him, a lot especially because he was going through all the trouble of waiting to help me honour my promise. Yeah, she would have like him.

Gabriella and Sharpay were currently talking about colleges and graduation which was in a couple of months, something I didn't particularly want to talk about.

"I can't believe we're going to be leaving high school soon!" Stated Gabby as she sighed, I knew she was really thinking about what would happen to her and Chad. Shar and Zeke were both attending U of A so they could stay together.

Gabriella and I were both going to Stanford to study Medicine for Gabby and Law for me, where as Troy and Chad both hadn't made up their minds where they would be going or even mentioned anything to either of us what Universities had given them offers.

"Guys can we please talk about something else like prom or something, I mean that's sooner than Graduation and we haven't even discussed what we're wearing and it's in a few weeks remember!" I said trying to change the depressing subject of change.

"I already got my dress girl remember! That trip to Paris over Christmas break, I got this fabulous Dior gown, it's just you two that need to sort that out" Sharpay smirking as filed her nails, that girl was something else

"Gee, thanks Shar" I said rolling my eyes "Gabby you wanna hit the mall this weekend, I mean it is in less than a month"

"Yeah I know, okay we'll do that... so are you and Troy going together?" she asked

"Well he hasn't asked me yet so I really don't know" I replied, I guess I'd just assumed we'd be going together but he hadn't actually asked me.

"Well now's your chance to find out" Shar said nodding at Troy who was coming our way with Zeke and Chad

"Find out what?" Chad asked as they sat down next to us

"Nothing, we were just discussing prom" Gabby quickly replied before glancing at me

"Oh yeah that like in a couple of weeks, shoot I completely forgot!" Chad said scratching his head as Gabby rolled her eyes

"Typical" She muttered

"Oh come on baby, you're not even a prom type of girl you said you didn't like it!" He protested

"SO! This is senior year Chad, of course I'm gonna go to prom, I just didn't go all the other years because I never had a date and Taylor always got asked by that creepy Jackson from Decathlon so we'd always say we were busy... that doesn't mean I don't like it Chad" She finished as she crossed her arms pouting

"Oh I'm sorry baby, okay so you like prom and now you have a date, how about I surprise tomorrow evening and ask you to prom properly yeah? Come on I won't have my girl miss her senior prom" He smirked as he pecked her cheek as she giggled and shook her head

"Oh yeah Taylor has Jackson asked you to prom yet?" Gabby giggled as she saw the look of fear go across my face

"Shut up Gabby! Actually he asked me if I was going to prom this year" I replied laughing

"what did you say?" Troy asked

"That I'd think about going this year but I wasn't sure" I replied looking at him, I could already see the scheming going on his head

"Why wouldn't you go?" He asked

"I have no date remember! Well there is always Jackson..." I teased hoping he'd take the bait

"Yep, there is always Jackson" He replied shrugging his shoulders

"Oh will you two give it a break and ask each other to prom already! Why does everything have to be so damn complicated with you guys!" Sharpay said throwing her arms up into the air.

"Well maybe we like complicated!" I replied glaring at her

"Whatever, Zeke lets go, it might be a while before these two finish this little flirt fest and I just don't have the time for this today" She huffed as she winked at me and strutted across the hall dragging a helpless Zeke with her.

Chad and Gabby were of course in their own world as usual and paid no attention to anyone else. I looked at Troy for a while taking in those pretty blue eyes of his, I never got tired of them.

"And what are you looking at?" He inquired as flicked my nose

"Nothing special"

"That's not something to say about you're prom date" He smirked

"I don't see Jackson around" I joked as we both laughed knowing that would never happen

"Quit playing Taylor"

"I'm not playing Troy" I replied getting up but not before watching his jaw drop, I gave Gabby a quick kiss on the cheek as I proceeded to leave school. Even for me being in school on a Friday night at five was a bit much.

"Tay, you were joking right" Troy said as we drove back to mine

"Is that your way of asking me to prom?" I said raising my eyebrow

"Oh! So now you want me to ask you to prom"

"I don't want you to if you don't want to" I huffed crossing my arms

"Sharpay was right you like everything to be complicated don't you!" He smirked knowing he was getting on my nerves

"Well if you did what normal boyfri... normal boys were supposed to do then things wouldn't have to be complicated!" I replied

"But we aren't a normal couple remember! Anyway just for your information I bought us prom tickets last week but I didn't get the chance to ask you yet" He laughed as he pulled up to my house

"And you nearly said I was your boyfriend" He teased

"I did not! And well thank you for the prom tickets I look forward to hearing you invite me to prom" I smirked trying not to laugh at myself as I proceeded to get out of the car as I heard him laugh at him. He had this annoying habit of doing this right when it came to us.

"Oh before I forget, I won't be hanging out with you guys until much later in the afternoon tomorrow, the homeless shelter needs some extra help for the lunch rush tomorrow" I said turning back to look at him

"Oh okay" He said disappointedly because he knew we hadn't been able to hung out for a while outside school, everyone had been busy doing their own little couple things the last few weekends so Troy and I hadn't been able to hung out together outside church and school, which I knew really hurt him.

"I'm sorry, I know we haven't seen each other in a while properly..." I pouted "But I'd feel bad if I got out of it, I haven't been in a while" I replied feeling bad for him

"It's okay Tay I know it's important to you, do you want me to come and pick you up?" He asked

"No it's okay Tye said he'd give me a ride there and back" I smiled "Besides I really don't know what time I'll be finished, I'll try to be back early I promise but you how hectic things get there" I could see his disappointment grow but there really was nothing I could do about it

"Tay it's just been a while since we hang out that's all but I guess I understand" He nodded as I smiled at him and mentally thanked him for being the most understanding almost boyfriend in the whole world.

"See you tomorrow" I smiled

I was waiting on Tye sporting one of Troy's jackets; I knew he'd smile when I saw him later on today, I still felt slightly bad for him but we catch up later I told myself as I pushed the thoughts to the back of my head.

Tye and I had arrived at the shelter and had been working for a couple of hours handing out food and making sandwiches, I'd talk to the people in the shelter especially the older lonely looking people because I knew one of the reasons they came here was because the streets were cold and lonely. They appreciated the company we gave them and Tye and I made a pretty good team out there. He had been a really good friend through everything this year, we'd met in church but we didn't go to the same school and I'm sure if we did we'd be closer than we were. I loved working at the shelter, it was just nice to give something back to those who had less than you and that's what I planned to do for the rest of my life, and the shelter was just the beginning. I would work in human rights law fighting for all the people who were less fortunate in third world countries. I looked up at the clock realising it was coming up to eight in the evening, I'd completely lost track of time talking to Ste one of the regulars at the shelter.

"Tye do you mind if we get going?" I asked

"Yeah sure, it's easy to lose track of time when you're here" He replied smiling

"Yeah I know right" We walked to his car

"So you're gonna be graduating soon" He smiled

"I know, don't remind me"

"Yeah I know I'm freaking out too!" He laughed "Do you know what college your going to?"

"standford with Gabby of course"

"You guys really are inseparable" He shook his head

"Yeah I know but what can we do!" I shrugged "So where you going?" I asked

"Stanford, studying Law" He replied smirking

"Shut up! So am I!" I shrieked

"Looks like you won't be getting rid of me either!" he winked

"Oh shoot I forgot to say I'm not going back to mine, I'm going to Troy's to hang out with some friends, you remember him, he's been coming to church with me and Gabby for a while" I said

"Oh yeah with Gabby's boyfriend right?" He asked

"Yeah, so if you just take a right here and it the third house the left" I said as he drove down the road I told him to, we pulled up to Troy's five minutes later.

"Thank you Tye, see you in Stanford" I said winking as we both got out of the car.

"See you tomorrow at church Tay" He said laughing a she pulled me into a long hug which I returned. I was until I'd watched him drive off that I realised neither Chad's nor Zeke's or Sharpay's cars were in the drive. They already left; I looked at my watch and saw it was half past eight, I cursed myself and nervously knocked on his door.

"Hey Mr. Bolton" I smiled as his Dad opened the door

"Oh hey Taylor, everyone's already left if you're looking for Gabby or Shar" he said as he stepped aside to let me in.

"Erm actually I was looking for Troy" I replied noting his shocked expression

"Oh right okay, he's been sulking since everyone left so watch out, his in his room" He replied as I nodded "It's the first one on the right" He said, I hadn't been to Troy's room before, we'd always hung out downstairs whenever the gang was over so this was going to be a first. I quickly made my way up the stairs and knocked on his door before pushing it open when I didn't hear a reply.

"Hey" I smiled as I saw him lying on his bed, he looked up and nodded. I sighed and took a seat in his computer chair opposite him as he sat up on his bed.

"Everyone's already gone" He said

"I know and I'm sorry I just got carried away, me and Tye were having a really good time and I completely forgot" I said

"About me" He replied looking hurt

"Not about you Troy" I said getting up and sitting on his bed taking his hand "It's just a different world up there and sometimes it's just nice to be there"

"Taylor I get that, I get that you love helping people, its one of the things I love most about you, but I just feel like I've been bending over backwards since 'we' begun to make sure I meet your needs. All I'm asking for is a bit of your time that's all" he sighed "Sometimes I just want to come first on your list of priorities"

"I know, I know and I do put you first whenever I can, look I put you first this morning when I woke up thinking about you and wearing your sweat shirt" I smiled hoping the conversation would take a different turn

"Tay I'm being serious" He smirked

" I know" I sighed "Tomorrow after church we could hung out... just me and you" I replied knowing that I was the one initiating the one on one even though we'd promised not to do that anymore but I know He'd only made that promise for my sake because I was feeling guilty. I just hope I don't start feeling guilty again and going all crazy Taylor on him again.

"Just me and you?" He asked "Tay I don't want you to do this if it'll take us back to dealing with crazy Taylor again"

"I know but I guess I can do this... for us" I smiled as he pulled me into a hug

"I really lo... like you" Troy said laughing, we couldn't say the big 'L' word until we were officially together

"I really like you too" I whispered as he begun to let me go from the hug "No, don't un-hug me yet" I protested as he laughed as he held me closer to him pulling us both down onto the bed so we could lay side by side. I snuggled closer into his embrace and it dawned on me that I hadn't been the best girlfriend... no almost girlfriend in the world, I had to do something to make it up to my caring almost boyfriend.


	9. Daddy Knows Best

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS GUYS, I'M POSTING TWO CHAPTERS TODAY, THIS ONE IS FORM TROY'S POV AND THE SECOND IS BACK TO TAYLOR'S. ENJOY AND I HOPE YOU LIKE THE TWIST, THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS WILL SURPRISE ALL OF YOU, WILL TROY AND TAYLOR MAKE IT THROUGH?

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Okay so this part of the story has to be told by me because Taylor wasn't there for all of it and she will never realise why to this day Tye and I don't see eye to eye. Can you believe after four years of Taylor and I being together he still believes he has a chance with her? But don't get me started on that now, let me tell you what happened the first time I was introduced to him and who he is.

I had just arrived from dropping Taylor home one Saturday night and I was tired as hell, with Taylor, college proposals and basketball running through my head just wanted to hit the sack, I needed to be on time as usual for church the next day. I couldn't believe Taylor had me attending church regularly these days, but why was I even surprised I'd do most things for that girl if only she'd let me but that was Taylor for you. And anyway it was one of the few times I saw her outside school, I was literally counting down the days until May 20th, it was right now exactly two months to that day. Two days until I can call Taylor my girlfriend, I smiled at the thought as I shut my eyes to sleep.

I was sitting next to Chad in church since both Gabby and Taylor were in the choir, I could see Taylor's father two rows in front of me; he was tall and scary looking. I was dreading the day I'd have to meet him, if only I'd known it would be sooner than I think I would have been more prepared. I also spotted Taylor's friend Tye sitting next to him, he seemed to really get on with Taylor's father and Taylor liked him, I'd never properly spoken to him but I knew who he was. He was also black, slightly lighter than her father, tall and geeky if you asked me. I thought he had a thing for Tay but I know she'd just think I was being jealous that she had male friends that had been and hung out at her house while I wasn't there. Not that I'd ever been allowed in, Taylor's father was strict when it came to her and boys not that I blamed him, it just wasn't fair that Tye could come over and I couldn't.

Once the service finished I waited around with Chad for Taylor and Gabby to finish greeting everyone and get going. Taylor had come with her father like she did every Sunday but she'd promised to leave with me today, I saw her talk to her father before waving me over. I turned around to make sure she wasn't waving at anyone else then nodded and walked over to her nervously.

"Hey Troy, I just wanted to introduce you properly to my father" She smiled as her father held out his hand for me to shake

"Nice to finally meet you son" He said as he firmly shook my hand

"You too sir" I replied

"Taylor has told me a lot about you, so it's good to finally put a face to East High's local star, Nice game against the eagles on Friday I heard you scored 33 points with 18 assists" He said patting my shoulder helping me to relax, basketball was a subject I never got tired of talking about

"Yeah I sure did sir, it was a hard match but you know the wildcats always pull through!" I smiled

"That's because they have a great captain" Taylor added smiling at me

"Well it was nice to meet you son, Taylor said your coming over with her later on today for diner, well I'll talk to you properly then son, I have some work to do before then, are you coming with me baby or you going to hang out with your friend a while longer" He said turning to Taylor

"Troy and I have some things to do before diner, so I'll catch up with you at home daddy" She smiled kissing him on the cheek. I was having dinner at the Mckessie's, that was news to me but it was welcomed news, Taylor had kept her family life so separate from me, the closest I'd come from going into her house was ringing her doorbell if I came to pick her up and she wasn't on the step and even then she'd open the door and we'd leave.

"Dinner?" I smirked "What do you have planned for me today Mckessie?" I asked as she giggled

"There's someone else I want you to meet, I realised I hadn't properly introduced you to him" She said taking my hand and leading me through the crowd, we were holding hands in public, was she trying to tell me we were going public because if it was that would make me the happiest man in the world.

"Troy, this is my friend Tye and Tye this is Troy" She said smiling up at both of us as I met her friends cold eyes, I nodded and proceeded to shake his hand which he reluctantly returned

"Nice to meet you man" I said as he nodded his head

"You too, a friend of my Tay is a friend of mine" He replied smiling, did he just say _his_ Taylor, he must be very mistaken I thought and once again shook my head of the thoughts

"Yeah Taylor's told me a lot about you, you help out at the shelter too don't you" I asked trying to relax the conversation that seemed to be growing more and more tense

"Yeah I do, it's funny Taylor's never really mentioned you" he shrugged as my fists clenched themselves; Taylor had just been approached by the minister and was in deep conversation with him across the room, leaving me to deal with this jerk.

"Okay man so what's your problem?" I asked it was clear that he had a problem with me

"No problem" He shrugged "I just don't want to see Taylor mixed up with the likes of you"

"And what do you mean by likes of me" I asked getting heated

"You know... people like you, who see a beautiful black woman and like everything else you have to make it your own. Your just another high school jock Troy and sooner or later you'll realise you can't give Taylor what she needs"

"Oh and you can?" I asked, who did this dude think he was,

"I have a much better chance than you do, especially since we're attending the same college next year" he smirked as Taylor returned; his was going to her college? Why hadn't Tay said anything to me?

"So what were you guys talking about?" She asked smiling sweetly, completely oblivious to the tension between us

"Nothing just the usual, college and high school you know how it goes" He smirked "Anyway Tay, I have to go, I promised to help out at the shelter for a few hours again today" He smiled hugging her and kissing her on the cheek to my dismay. Even I hadn't done that yet,

"Nice to meet you Troy" he nodded his head and left

"So isn't Tye the nicest!" She said as we said goodbye to Gabby and Chad and left to wherever it was she was taking me.

I simply nodded and smiled, I wasn't going to let that delusional jerk ruin my first one on one with Taylor in five months, plus I wanted to quiz her on this dinner with her Dad later on this evening.

"So where to pretty lady?" I asked as we got into the car

"Place of peace pretty man" She replied laughing, I nodded and drove on. We made small talk and laughed on the way there and I could tell Taylor was nervous about something because she was constantly rubbing her palms on her dress; it was her give away habit. We hadn't been there since the first time I took her here, well I had but not with Taylor. We made our way down the path to the stream and I was shocked to find Taylor had set out a small blanket with a picnic on it.

"I did it this morning before church, I hope the ants didn't get to the sandwiches but I made sure to shut the basket tight, but you know how baskets can get..." She continued to ramble on talking about ants and mice or whatever else; she looked so cute when she was nervous pacing up and down by the river, it was moments like this when I just wanted to hold her in my arms and kiss her but knew I couldn't.

"Tay... tay it's okay" I said taking hold of her hand "It wouldn't matter if they did because all that matters is the fact you're here... with me... that's all but thank you for doing all of this" I smiled as I resisted the urge to kiss her

"okay" she mumbled as I lead her to blanket and we sat down, she opened the basket to find that everything was as she had left it that morning. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which were my favourite were still intact, no ants or mice or anything else had gotten to them. She'd also packed some tropical juice, some fruit and a few bars of chocolate, once eaten and satisfied I noticed Taylor pull her thin Sunday sweater closer to her body.

"Your cold" I said moving to sit next to her and wrap my arms around her, the March wind had picked up so much you could hear it whistling among the leaves

"No I'm fine" She sighed leaning into my shoulder "Hey let's play tag!" She exclaimed looking at me, Taylor and her childish antics, you'd never think someone like her had such a playful streak but she really did. If you left her and Chad alone long enough you'd find them playing some kind of game that is until they got pissed off with each other and begun to insult each other. It was hilarious to watch and no one dared to interrupt one of the famous Chad and Taylor arguments unless you had a death wish.

"Oh come on Tay" I protested preferring the calm of now

"Please... It'll keep us warm and it'll be fun I promise" She replied pouting the famous pout that would have me run to Timbuktu and back for her, she sprung to her feet and tagged me before sprinting off across the small stream making sure she splashed me with water, so much for keeping warm I thought as I chased her.

"Gotcha!" I said lifting her up from behind and spinning her round as she laughed

"Troy put me down!" she protested as she continued to struggle,

"Tay stop struggling we're going to fa..." Too late Tay and I had landed in the stream, me on my bum with Tay just on top of me laughing

"Ooo you're going to get it now Mckessie" I said pushing her into the water and off me before splashing her with more water ignoring her shrieks. She started splashing water back at me and before we knew we were soaked. The wind had picked up again and our wet clothes didn't help the matter, it was only a matter of time before it started on rain and as though on cue the heavens were opened and heavy rain drops begun connecting with our faces. We quickly got up from the stream laughing as I watched Taylor spin round and round in the rain, throwing her hands up and her head back.

"Would care for a dance my lady?" I asked bowing in a terrible fake British accent, my church shirt was now ruined and clung to me heavily and Taylor's once pink church dress was now covered in mud from the stream and completely soaked through. Her hair clung to her face in loose wet curls, she also took a bow before taking my hand and letting me lead her round the stream in a little dance of our own.

"You are so silly" She giggled into my ear as I spun her away from me and back to me again, if I'm honest I had no idea what I was doing but at that moment I just wanted to dance with her so I did what I usually do and acted on impulse, regardless of the consequences which in this case were my embarrassing dance skills.

"Yeah but you're not complaining" I replied as we continued to attempt the waltz,

"I've always wanted to dance in the rain" she confessed

"Well your wish is my command" I replied smiling at her as the rain started to get heavier "However I think it's time for us to go before the place floods out" I said as she nodded, she quickly grabbed the rug from the ground and I got the picnic basket and we run out of the woods and into the road before racing to find my car.

I let her have my coat which I'd left in the car to keep her warm as I raced us back to her house, dinner was in an hour so it made sense to go straight there.

"Daddy I'm home" Taylor shouted as we burst through the door shivering and soaked

"Hey baby..." He said appearing from the living room and looking completely shocked at our appearances "What on earth happened to you two?" He asked

"We got caught in the march showers" she replied shivering "Is it okay if Troy borrows some of your clothes?"

"Yeah sure honey, take him on up and get cleaned up you look a mess" he replied laughing as he shook his head at us

"Thanks Mr. Mckessie" I said as I followed Taylor up the stairs. Her house was huge, made sense seeing as her dad was a big shot lawyer.

"Here" She said handing me a towel "you can shower in my room, I'll shower in my Dads, I'll leave something for you to wear on my bed okay?" I nodded as she led me to her room. I was twice the size of mine, white walls with a king size bed on one side, her computer on the other with a love seat on the wall directly opposite her door. One of her walls was covered in posters of famous people, basketball stars, actors, singers and rappers. I guess all the ones she thought were cute; the other walls were left plain except from a few framed pictures on each wall. She had a T.V on the wall directly opposite her bed and above her computer. I walked into the on suite bathroom and closed the door to shower.

Once showered and ready I decided to wait for her in her room and look around for while opting out of having to go down stairs and make small talk with her father. It wasn't long before she came in and found me seated on her bed watching MTV.

"Hey, you feel better?" She asked as she sat next to me, she was wearing a pair of sweat pants and a white tank top. Her hair now dry was tied up into a messy bun and she didn't appear to have any make up on, but to me she looked flawless.

"Yeah" I said smiling

"Dad said dinner will be ready in 20 minutes, but I need to talk to you about something before that" She said

"okay what's up?" I asked focusing all my attention away from Beyonce looking hot in the crazy in love video and onto Taylor

"Well I was thinking that I'm going to tell my Dad about us, so it's not a shock to him in 2 months time" She smiled as my jaw dropped. So this is why she'd invited me over to dinner

"Are you sure you want to do this now?" I asked nervously

"Yeah I mean I know how I feel about us now and I really think that it would better if my father found out now rather than later, I don't want to lie to him about my relationship with you especially now he's met you" She said "And besides it just means less drama on my birthday okay? It'll be fine I promise" She said smiling as I reluctantly nodded.

I was going to go downstairs in Mr. Mckessie's house wearing Mr. Mckessie's clothes and was going to tell him I was sort of but not really dating his only daughter but I also planned on actually dating her once she turned eighteen. This really was going to be an interesting night. We talked for a while longer before heading downstairs to see if Mr. Mckessie needed help, I had to do all the ass kissing I could before dinner.

Taylor and I had just set the table when Mr. Mckessie bought out another plate

"Dad it's only us three eating, why the extra plate?" Tay asked looking confused

"Oh I forgot to say I invited..." He begun to say as the door bell went "Oh I think that's him, let me go get it" He said as he went to the door, I gave Taylor an asking look and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Taylor baby, I also invited your friend Tye to dinner" Taylor's Dad returned leading Tye into the kitchen "He was telling about coming to Stanford with you" He said as Tye smiled at Taylor and smirked at me.

"Hey Taybay" He said hugging her and kissing her cheek, man he needed to stop that "Troy" He said nodding at me, I smiled back as we all got settled for dinner. Conversation seemed to be flowing well, we discussed college to which I said I was undecided but had been offered a number of places on Basketball scholarships which was true. We discussed Taylor and Tye's decision to study law together at Stanford and Mr. Mckessie even joked about them getting married which made my blood boil.

"So Troy once you decide what college your going to go to what do you think you're going to major in, I mean unless you want to go to play in the NBA" Tye asked

"Oh I want to study medicine, it would be nice to go pro but everyone knows being an athlete isn't the most reliable profession, I'm just using it as a pass to get into a good college" I replied smiling at Taylor who smiled back

"Sounds like a good plan Troy, what kind of Medicine do you want to practice?" Her Dad asked

"I'm hoping to go be a neurosurgeon but I haven't looked into the other paths properly yet, I guess I'll have to see when I get to med school, something else might catch my eye" I replied as he nodded appearing satisfied with my answer

"Sounds like you lack direction" Tye said

"Just because I don't have my life planned out doesn't mean I lack direction, I just prefer to keep my options open, you never know what tomorrow is going to bring" I said shrugging off his comment, I had to keep my cool because I knew if I didn't someone was going to end up with a broken nose and it wasn't going to be me

"So Daddy Troy and I have something to tell you" Taylor said changing the subject and looking at me, this was it. This might be the last time I would be able to walk on both my legs for a long time I thought.

"Oh okay... what is it baby?"

"Well... see that promise I made to you and mom about dating when I was thirteen?" She asked as he nodded and smiled "So erm I've kept it"

"I know baby, you're going to be eighteen in two months, is this about dating? I really don't think this is the right time to discuss sweety; we have guests" He smiled

"No Dad this is about one of our guests, well since the project Troy and I had to do together, we became really good friends over the last six months and well when I turn eighteen Troy's going to ask me to be his girlfriend" She said quickly as we watched both Tye and Mr. Mckessie choke on their chicken.

"Excuse me?" He said

"Yeah Daddy, I thought you should know first before anyone and I didn't want to lie or hide anything from you daddy" She said pouting, she knew what she was doing because Mr. Mckessie's face instantly softened when he looked at his daughter. I chuckled inside knowing I wasn't the only one she had that affect on.

"How long have you wanted to date my daughter?" He asked looking at me

"For the past six months sir, I asked her out once and she told me she wasn't allowed to date, so I told her I'd wait until she was allowed to" I replied smiling at Taylor

"Well I can't say I'm happy that you've been looking at my daughter as more than a friend for the past few months, but I'm happy with your decision to wait for her son... however if you so much as make my daughter shed a single tear over you..." He started

"Daddy..." she said pouting again "I love you" she smiled "But please stop threatening my future boyfriend" she said getting up to hug him, well that went reasonably well I thought except for the slight death threat

"Okay sweety, so Troy are you Christian?" He asked, so much for this going good

"Not exactly, but I've been coming to church regularly for the last six months and I respect Taylor's faith. I would never do anything to make her compromise that. I get how important it is to her" I replied hoping it would satisfy him

"Okay son I guess I can understand that" he said getting up to shake my hand "Just make sure you treat my daughter accordingly" He said as I nodded

Tye had stayed completely quiet during this time which I thought was weird. We finshed dinner and helped Taylor's Dada tidy up before we begun to leave. Tye left first and I stayed behind a little longer to talk to Taylor.

"See told you it went well!" She smiled as we stood by the door

"Yeah except for the little death threat" I replied as she rolled her eyes at me

"He was just playing Troy, he likes you that much is clear" She smiled as she hugged my waist, I wasn't sure whether I should embrace with her Dad in the next room. I'm pretty sure he was listening at the door too so I kept my arms by my side as I smiled down at her.

"Okay well I have to go Tay or I'm gonna be late home but I'll come pick u up tomorrow and this time I can come in and wait inside instead of my car" I replied flicking her nose "See you tomorrow Tay, and tell your Dad I'll return his clothes in the morning" I laughed looking down at the grey sweat top and black trouser I was wearing. She nodded burying her head into my chest as I finally gave in the urge to hold her. We stood there for a few moments before I pushed her away and closed the door behind me. I leaned against the door smiling as I thought of my girlfriend, yeah I called her my girlfriend, she was as good as, the title was just a minor technicality if you asked me. As I was making my way to the car I heard her Dad call me from the front door.

"Troy!" he shouted as I turned around

"Yes Sir" I replied getting nervous

"Let me just get to the point son, I like you I really do but I want you to stay away from my daughter, forever" He said calmly as my heart dropped I knew all this was going a little too smoothly

"Pardon?" I asked, hadn't he just given me his blessing earlier on this evening or was that just me being delusional,

"I won't repeat myself son, If you don't I have the power to make your life extremely difficult" he said "Now if you know what's good for you, you will do as I say or you can say goodbye to any scholarship that has been offered to you" He said

"I don't think I can do that sir..." I replied nervously, staying away from Taylor was a request my heart just wouldn't agree to. It's like asking me to breathe without oxygen, did he really think I'd waited six out of eight months to be with Taylor just to walk away now because he didn't want me to be with her.

"Well let me make myself clear son, I'm not asking you I'm telling you to stay away from my daughter. You will not talk to her or phone her or pick her up to go anywhere, you won't even attend our local church" He stated firmly

"Sir I heard you and I'm telling you that I can't do that" I replied getting angry, I had to walk away or I was going to do or say something I'd regret, he nodded and walked away I had a feeling this wasn't the end of this.


	10. I'll fight for you

Troy had been reserved today, he'd come and picked me up as usual except he came to my door this time, my dad had opened the door and I thought things were tense between them but I thought nothing of it. It was probably just dad being overprotection and Troy thinking my dad was still out to kill him even though last night he'd been very surprisingly okay with the situation. He'd barely said a word in homeroom, he seemed really far away. It was lunch one and it was the week where we have lunch and then study period last so technically no lessons in the afternoon. It also helped that the year was coming to a close soon so there wasn't really much work to be completed. Gabby was still scolding about missing our shopping date on Saturday and not coming to the hang out at Troy until I explained I got caught up at the shelter. Sharpay was wondering how I worked there because it was so dirty and all but that was Sharpay. The boys were talking about basketball and well Troy was daydreaming which was odd, because he usually dominated all basketball conversations.

"Troy are you okay?" I asked walking to the boys and rubbing his arm

"Yeah, I'm fine I just got stuff to figure out" He replied smiling, I nodded and left it knowing he wasn't one to be pushed, I returned to my spot with the girls, occasionally glancing over and meeting the dreamy look in his eye

"Ugh! Taylor is there something else going on with you and Troy" Sharpay groaned

"I don't know, it thought everything was good but this morning he was acting really weird and I noticed things were tense with him and my dad too" I shrugged slowly tearing my eyes away from him and onto Sharpay

"Have you asked him?" She asked as I gave her the duh look "Okay okay..." she mumbled as Gabby smiled sympathetically at me

"He's fine Tay probably just stressed about the finals or something" Gabby said smiling "I know Chad's been a little worried about them too"

"Hmm hmm" I said as Sharpay let out another groan

"For goodness sake!" Sharpay exclaimed "Troy will you come and tell Taylor what the hell is bothering you because she is driving me crazy!" Sharpay shouted out at Troy as I glared at her. She is seriously annoying sometimes.

"Tay what's up?" He asked as he walked over and held out his hand so he could help me up

"Nothing, I'm just worried about you" I replied as we walked out of the canteen

"Me? Tay I'm fine, I'm just tired that's all" He said shrugging "But here follow me I got a surprise for you" He said taking my hand and leading me into the chemistry lab

"Troy, I hate surprises!" I exclaimed

"I know and I love to get on your nerves that's why I made it a surprise" He winked as I hit his arm and laughed, "okay now close your eyes and don't peek" He said standing in front of me

"Troyy"

"Taylor just do it okay" He asked as I nodded reluctantly and closed my eyes, he took both my hands and lead me into the room before helping me to sit down on the stool. I waited for about five minutes while he completed whatever it was he was doing in the room.

"Okay now you can open your eyes" He said smiling proudly at me as I peeked my eyes open slightly worried at what I'd fine, before smiling and opening them wider as I looked around at the room which was being lit by the chemistry burners on the tables. I looked up to the board where Troy stood holding two tickets in his hands, and on the board what can only be described as a very special chemistry equation was written on the board.

"What do get if you mix sodium of Taylor with sodium of Troy and, two tickets of promtasium, and add a little April the 18th?" I read out loud laughing at him

"What do you say Taylor, go to prom with me?" He asked walking up to me as I smiled and nodded

"Yes I will sodium of Troy! You are so silly and corny and cheesy and ridiculous and everything silly in between" I laughed as I hugged him "But I can't help but really really _really_ like you" I whispered into his ear as he laughed at me shaking his head.

"So you wouldn't swap me for anything?" he asked looking at me seriously

"of course not" I said stroking his cheek "not for the world" I smiled looking into his eyes as he lowered his hands to my lower back and pulled me closer into him

"And you don't mind fighting for us?" He asked earning a very confused look from me

"Troy is everything okay?" I asked running my hand up and down his neck

"Tay please just answer the question" he sighed "and don't rub my neck its gets me hot and bothered" he said taking my hand from his neck and placing it on his heart as we laughed

"Sorry..." I giggled "of course I'll fight for us, I introduced you to my Dad remember, that was major for me; I'll fight for us till the end... why who wants to fight us Troy?" I inquired drawing my head closer to his head; I don't know what I was thinking but the magnetic force between us kept drawing me closer and closer and closer until his lips were not more than half a centimetre away from mine. His eyes digging into my soul,_ 'the promise the promise the promise' _I heard my head scream at the top of its voice.

"I'm sorry" I whispered against his lips not moving away from them and yet not moving closer to them

"I love you Taylor" he smiled back

"I love you too Troy, so much that it scares me" we were still paddling in dangerous water, if I kissed him I'd be breaking a very important promise to me and if I didn't kiss him right now in that perfect moment it felt like my heart would break. I didn't kiss him instead he decided for us it was better if we didn't break the boundaries, he leaned his head against mine smiling.

"I've been waiting nearly seven months for you to say that Taylor" he smiled tightening his grip

"I did say it Troy, you just weren't there to hear it" I teased as he laughed at me "So you wanna hang out at mine today?" I asked, it would be the first time ever

"Erm, I don't think that's a very good idea..." he said

"Why not?" I asked

"I promise to tell you later, but right now I just want to be happy here with you" He whispered into my neck "please" he said again as I nodded and held him closer, we hadn't had a moment as intimate as this ever. I mean we'd nearly kissed and we'd said the big 'L' word and we'd decided to go to prom together. I took a moment to take it all in smiling and literally counting down the days until May 20th when we could have moments like this all the time.

We were on our way to Troy's house after school to hang out, it was just me and him but I think he wanted us to some privacy without the gang, Sharpay and Gabby hadn't shut up when I told them what happened in the chemistry lab. It had driven Troy crazy to know I tell them everything especially when Sharpay run up and hugged him for being the best almost boyfriend, even if he wasn't her boyfriend. She was a complete trip. We pulled into his drive and went inside

"So what did you want to tell me later" I asked as he looked in his kitchen fridge for drinks. His Dad hadn't come back from school yet so it was just us

"You might want to sit down for this" He said motioning to the stool by the island, I nodded and sat down

"I'm just going to say this... your Dad doesn't want me to see anymore" He said sitting opposite me and handing me a glass of orange juice

"Troy don't be so silly he already said it was okay" I laughed "You still trippin' about the empty threat?" I asked

"No, Tay listen after I left he came up to me and said if I didn't stop seeing you he would make my future very difficult and threatened something about my scholarships... I'm sorry Tay"

"Troy you're probably just mistaken, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that" I said taking a sip of my orange juice, my dad would never threaten anyone

"Taylor I know what he said" He said getting up and sighing rubbing the back his neck

"Okay; so this is why you've been distant all day... did you consider the offer?" I asked biting my lip

"No... no way! Why would you even ask?" He replied getting frustrated

"I don't know, I just wanted to be sure I guess" I replied wanting to cry, why would my father not want me to be happy. He is going to hear about this when I get home tonight.

"Taylor be sure of this, I love you and nothing... nothing will stop me from being with you" He said as he sat on the stool next to me forcing me to face him "nothing" he whispered

"So what do we do now, I don't want to be the reason you don't go to college"

"College isn't important to me Taylor, not when I have you" He replied smiling "But my Dad would kill me so this is what we're going to do for the next two months but if it's going to work you can't tell anyone not even Gabby okay"

"Okay" I agreed as he explained everything to me and I agreed. We watched a movie before I had to go home, we didn't really watch the film, we sat in his room staring at each other and smiling. I could get used to all these one on one moments; I loved being with Troy now more than ever.

"See you later Tay" He said smiling as I nodded knowing this was the last time he'd pick me up for school for a while

"I love you" He whispered into my ear causing my whole body to freeze

"I love you too" I smiled wanting so badly to kiss but resisting anyway knowing it would be worth the wait when it happened.


	11. Except because I Love You

Thanks for the reviews guys; I really do love all your feedback and comments. The two poems I use in this are written by my favourite poet Pablo Neruda. Read and review guys and thanks so much again.

It was exactly two weeks before prom, Gabby and I had finally got round to getting our dresses last week, everyone had been talking about it and we were all excited. Troy and I weren't doing so great; we'd spent these last few weeks growing distant even Gabriella was beginning to worry about our failing almost relationship. We arrived to school separately and left separately. We barely spoke and when we did it ended up in a huge argument over nothing where one of us would storm off.

I ran into school crying gaining stares from everyone as Troy walked behind me not even bothering to see if I was okay. Everyone knew there and then something was up. I got to my locker frantically pulling books out before slamming it shut and furiously wiping at my face. I walked into homeroom and saw Troy sat smugly at our desk in the centre of the classroom. I walked past him not even bothering to look at him. I saw Gabriella and Sharpay's jaws drop as I opted to sit at the back in the spare desk. I put my head on my desk and silently sobbed.

I could hear the whispers in the class, circulating over what happened to our once unbreakable friendship and continued to cry. Troy and I had run the race and now he was letting go because he was too scared to face up to my father. Troy Bolton cared about his future more than he cared about my heart.

"Okay class, it's time for you to share your poems, I hope none of you forgot your homeroom assignments, you know it's never too late in the year to hand out detentions" Mr. Smith said as I groaned remembering the class assignment. I hoped he didn't pick me first because I was a mess right now; it was always times like this when lady luck seemed to leave your side. Mr. Smith called me up to get the class started seeing as I seemed to already have fallen asleep so early. I got up and slowly walked to the front of the class.

"My poem is titled I do not love you except because I love you By Paulo Neruda" I said before coughing and pausing to look at Troy quickly. His head hung, he couldn't even look at me.

"I do not love you except because I love you;

I go from loving to not loving you,

From waiting to not waiting for you

My heart moves from cold to fire.

I love you only because it's you the one I love;

I hate you deeply, and hating you

Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you

Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.

Maybe January light will consume

My heart with its cruel

Ray, stealing my key to true calm.

In this part of the story I am the one who

Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,

Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood."

I finished, I read the whole poem looking at Troy who had only managed to look up at me once before looking down again. The class clapped and the teacher praised. I walked back to my seat avoiding all eye contact with anyone. I sat down, tired and broken because I loved him. He volunteered to go next and my head shot up from the table when I heard his voice.

He begun

"My poem is called If You Forget Me also by Paulo Neruda" He started before pausing and looking toward the back at me, I almost, almost let myself lock eyes with him but thankfully I looked away before I could get drawn in again. I should have known he would choose my favourite, I'd read some of his work to him a couple of months back over the phone one night and he'd loved it. He had to steal everything from me didn't he, even my poet.

"I want you to know

one thing.

You know how this is:

if I look

at the crystal moon, at the red branch

of the slow autumn at my window,

if I touch

near the fire

the impalpable ash

or the wrinkled body of the log,

everything carries me to you,

as if everything that exists,

aromas, light, metals,

were little boats

that sail

toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,

if little by little you stop loving me

I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly

you forget me

do not look for me,

for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,

the wind of banners

that passes through my life,

and you decide

to leave me at the shore

of the heart where I have roots,

remember

that on that day,

at that hour,

I shall lift my arms

and my roots will set off

to seek another land.

But

if each day,

each hour,

you feel that you are destined for me

with implacable sweetness,

if each day a flower

climbs up to your lips to seek me,

ah my love, ah my own,

in me all that fire is repeated,

in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,

my love feeds on your love, beloved,

and as long as you live it will be in your arms

without leaving mine."

He finished, and looked at me before returning to his seat, the class was silent, they wondered in their heads what had happened to us and I did too. Gabriella's head kept turning back to catch my eye, Sharpay just full stop turned her chair around and stared at me hoping I'd look up. I didn't but instead I sobbed into my desk. My head was hurting but the tears kept coming. Everyone read out their poems, some good and other not so good. I couldn't only hear the sound of my heart breaking. The bell went and I quickly pushed past everyone ignoring Gabriella and Sharpay's calls and heading straight to the toilets.

"Taylor what the hell is going on?" Sharpay demanded as they flew into the toilets nearly knocking me over with the door.

"Troy... we're over, we never even begun!" I cried as Gabriella embraced me

"It's okay sweety, just tell us what happened" Gabriella said rubbing my back,

I nodded and begun to tell them, of the previous plan we'd made at his house that to pretend to break up until graduation after my father's threats but the Troy had said that wasn't going to work the next day at school. That's when all our arguments had begun; he'd started getting distant and making up excuses not to hang out with me and not to see me anymore, then finally this morning he said he wanted out. He said he didn't care about us anymore and he wanted a normal girlfriend, someone who didn't take up so much effort and so much work. He didn't want us anymore.

Gabriella and Sharpay were as shocked as I was when I explained everything to them. I'd finally calmed down and pulled myself together. They'd walked me to algebra and picked me up from each lesson until lunch where I knew I would finally have to face him. I could hear the whispers and I could see it in their faces, East High was waiting for a show down. I walked into the canteen to meet his eyes, he was with the team. I was too busy trying to keep my composure to notice Gabby, yes Gabriella Montez march over there and give the Troy the loudest slap I had ever heard. Nothing but silence filled the canteen.

"That's for breaking her heart. How could you Troy? When she wanted out you fought to keep her and as soon as you had every little part of her heart you decided it was too hard! Too hard?!" She screamed as a shocked Chad along with the entire East High body watched on not knowing what to make of the situation. I didn't know what to make of it either; I mean this was Gabby, calm, cool and collect _shy_ Gabriella. Yet there she was fighting my battles like she always promised she would.

"You are a coward Troy Bolton and you never deserved her. That much was clear from the beginning" Gabby finished before smoothing down her dress, kissing Chad's cheek, smiling and walking away looking like the Gabriella we all recognised again. Even Sharpay was lost for words as we were led off by Gabriella.

"Damn it Gabby! I wanted to be the one to slap him" Sharpay exclaimed as we sat on down at a nearby table. The last I'd seen Troy had walked out of the canteen and hadn't returned.

"You made me so proud Gabby but you shouldda given him another one for me" Sharpay continued as I sat there in silence. Had Gabriella Montez seriously just slapped him?

"Tay are you okay?" Gabby asked as she rolled her eyes as Sharpay, I slowly nodded

"Thank you" I replied smiling feeling proud of my best friend

"what for, I always said I'd give him a piece of my mind if he ever hurt you besides no one and I mean no one makes my sister cry" she replied firmly squeezing my hand. I smiled at her and nodded.

It was two weeks before prom, I didn't have a date anymore, I didn't have a heart anymore because he'd forgotten to give it back and I didn't have him anymore. So I did what I usually did when something hurt me, I cried it out, prayed about it and got over it, getting over it wasn't so easy. Troy Bolton wasn't my maker and he definitely wasn't going to break me. I was angrier at myself if anything for letting him get under my skin, silly, silly, silly me.

That was last week Monday, Troy and I hadn't uttered a single word to each other since that morning. We avoided each other at all costs, I'd even noticed Zeke beginning to cold shoulder him but I'd talked to him and reminded him that regardless of everything Troy was still his best friend. Prom was tonight and I was considering not going, but I didn't want to be home with father on Friday night and so that gave me enough motivation to go.

My dad and I were not on speaking terms, he still thought he'd done the right thing but after a week of me crying myself to sleep every night after school he'd begun to regret it, but regret wasn't enough to mend my broken heart. I'd done the Christian thing and forgiven them both, Troy and my Dad I mean, but forgiveness didn't mean I had to be best friends with them. I was civil but that's as far as my forgiveness stretched. I had to give myself time to heal.

Today was prom night, Friday the 18th of April, exactly a month and two days away from my eighteenth birthday. I was waiting with Gabby for Sharpay and Zeke to finish saying goodbye so we could head back to Sharpay's to get ready for Prom. Then Chad and Zeke would come by and pick them and me up in the limo. I wondered if Troy would come with us, I mean he had paid part of the Limo fees with the rest of the guys. That was before everything had gone down.

I was worried about him, I'd over heard Chad tell Zeke about how him and his Dad weren't currently seeing eye to eye. Troy wasn't doing well at all and it showed, he'd begun to lose weight and thank God Basketball season was over because apparently according to Chad, Troy's game seemed to get worse at each practice. Troy's eyes didn't sparkle like they used to anymore, Troy's soul didn't shine through whenever I looked at him. Troy wasn't Troy anymore, just some stranger in his body.

I saw him walk by, his head hanging low I wanted to talk to him, see if he was okay but I couldn't, it still hurt. So he walked by glancing at me for a second before getting into his car and driving off. I sighed as Gabby and I got into Sharpay's car to get ready. I really wasn't feeling this but I'd feel stupid if I missed my senior prom. And anyway I didn't pay over $300 for my prom dress so it would sit in my closet.

"Wow! You look amazing Tay" Gabby chimed when I walked out of the bathroom in my floor length red gown. It was a strapless fitted dress that hugged my body; it had a small slit at the back. My hair been straightened so it was now falling past my shoulders, leaving my bangs to fall in my face. Sharpay had done my make-up; she'd given me smoky eyes with a nude lip gloss. I had to admit I looked good.

"Thanks G You look amazing as well" I replied honestly. She sported a tightly fitted floor length black strapless gown which hugged her figure perfectly. Her hair was in a curly up do, she had a middle parting with loose curls falling in her face while the rest of her hair remained tucked up with pins, giving it a bob illusion. She was wearing dark red lipstick with dark eye make-up.

"So do you shar" I smiled at the blonde who was wearing a baby pink Dior dress that stopped just above her knees. Her blonde hair was in loose curls falling on her shoulders and light pink lip gloss on her lips with heavy eye make-up.

"I know! We all do" she smiled "C'mon I know the boys have been waiting for us" She said as we left to go downstairs. Zeke and Chad all complimented us on how great we looked and we all go in the limo to go to school. Troy was in the limo like I'd hoped; hopefully he'd be at prom. I didn't want him to miss his senior prom.

We'd been here for half an hour and I still hadn't spotted Troy anywhere, Gabby and Sharpay were dancing with their men while I stood by the drinks watching on, despite the countless number of compliments I'd got tonight I couldn't take my mind off Troy for long enough to enjoy the night.

"Hey Taylor" I heard a familiar voice say from behind me, I knew it was him and I froze

"What do you want Troy?" I replied when I finally turned around

"You look beautiful" He replied avoiding my question. He looked good in a suite too, he was wearing a black suite with a white shirt and thin black tie. His eyes glistened in the dark room and his smile pierced my soul.

"What do you want?" I repeated slowly ignoring his compliment as he sighed. All that time I'd wasted wishing he was here and now he was I couldn't stand him. I just wanted him to go away; I got what I wanted I knew he was still breathing now he could go breathe somewhere else.

"I just wanted to see you" He said looking down

"well you have now you can go" I replied beginning to walk away toward the exit. I knew this was a bad idea; I walked out of the gym and took a deep breath leaning against the door. I got myself together and kept on walking until I found my myself outside, I wrapped my arms around myself as the wind hit me, before feeling someone's jacket go around me from behind.

"It's to keep you warm" the voice said again, I could smell his cologne and once again I knew it was him.

"Thanks" I replied snuggling into it

"I'm sorry Tay" he said

"No save it Troy" I replied turning around to meet his eyes "Please just save your apology, I really don't need to hear it. I forgave you a while ago" I replied trying not to give any emotion away in my voice

"Thank you but I don't deserve your forgiveness" He said looking down

"I know, but I'm not God, I didn't make me so forgiving" I replied smiling as he nodded, silence covered us for a while

"How have you been?" He finally asked as I laughed bitterly, if only you knew

"Okay" I lied as he nodded again "You haven't been looking too good though"

"Yeah, it's been weird without you in my life" He admitted

"Well I wasn't the one who walked away remember" I quickly replied before regretting the look of hurt I saw flash through his eyes

"I know... and I've missed you Taylor, so, so much. I don't remember how to be me without you anymore. I Swear I don't, and it's only been two weeks so maybe I need a little time but I don't even want time Taylor I just want you, just you" He whispered brokenly

"Then why did you do it?" I replied, why was he doing this now, did he enjoy playing with my emotions? He'd said just two weeks ago he wanted out, he didn't want to do this anymore but now he's telling me he wants us back.

"I can't tell you that Tay, just please trust me on this... just until graduation okay, I can't take you being mad at me anymore" he sighed, what was this boy talking about now

"Please just trust me and promise me you won't go running off with anyone else once you're eighteen" He added

"Why Troy? Why should I make any more promises to you huh?" I questioned "All you've done so far is cause me pain and now you expect me to make you more promises on the basis of trust! Have you lost your mind?" I laughed, he was seriously tripping

"Give me one good reason why I should" I demanded

"Because I still love you Taylor" he replied taking my hand and I started laughing again, if I didn't laugh I would cry it was one or the other really

"But you loved me before and you still hurt me... what's changed?" I asked not bothering to remove my hand from his, I just didn't have the energy anymore

"I can't tell you, but please trust me on this; I promise I will not hurt you again. I promise." He said pulling me closer toward him

"Well maybe your promises don't mean anything to me anymore Troy" I said finally breaking eye contact with him "They don't mean anything Troy" I sighed

"No please Taylor, don't say that I can't lose you, I can't, not now please don't say that." He whispered beginning to cry, I was a little taken back. I'd never seen him cry not even when we talked about his mom. Crying was something Troy didn't do so when I felt his tears hit my forehead a part of me broke inside. I found myself pulling him closer to me, wanting to comfort him.

"I need you Tay, I really do. I did this for you, you have to believe me and I thought I could handle being away from you but I can't Taylor. I did it for you, for us, please just trust me okay" He asked looking into my eyes, I bit my lip knowing Gabby and Sharpay would kill me for what I was about to do but I agreed anyway. I found myself nodding my head, why did my heart never listen to my heart!

"Thank you, thank you" he whispered over and over into my ear causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. I finally let myself relax under his hold and placed my head on his shoulder as we swayed from side to side. We seemed to have picked up a habit of dancing to no music.

"I missed you" He said as I stayed silent, I had missed him too but right now I still had my reservations and I wasn't letting my guard down anytime soon and he knew that. I let him have his moment regardless of all the protesting going on in my head because I didn't love Troy Bolton... except because I loved him.


	12. Truly, Madly, Deeply

Guys thank you SO much for the reviews! That's the most reviews I've got for one chapter so I'm really glad you liked it. WELCOME to all my new readers! This chapter will hopefully make all of you smile! Read & Review oh and it's really long but that's only because I wanna get to the new stages of the relationship quickly and I'm going away in two weeks and would really like to finish it by then.

Troy and I had left prom together shortly after. I'd texted Sharpay and Gabriella saying I'd see them back at Sharpay's and that my Dad had come to give me a ride back. That was a lie and I'm pretty sure they figured it out as soon as they realised Troy wasn't there either. Troy and I had gone for a ride, we just kept driving and driving and driving, like if we drove we'd manage to get ourselves out of the mess we were in. We joked about eloping and going to live in Mexico together but of course I wasn't going to be a high school dropout that was for sure so that idea pretty much disappeared as soon as it had appeared. We kept driving, round and round the town, talking, laughing and catching up. It was nearly two in the morning and Gabriella and Sharpay had been phoning me for the past hour, I guess they were back at Sharpay's now and realised I wasn't there. We drove for a while longer before we went back to Sharpay's at about 3 in the morning; her parents were out of town and Chad and Zeke were staying over.

I knocked on the door and waited, Troy was with me there was no point trying to pretend we hadn't been together.

"TAYLOR ANNE MCKESSIE WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Sharpay screamed as she opened the door to let me in, Troy tried to follow only to be stopped by Sharpay and her crazy self, that girl was a mess.

"And whose house do you think you're going into Bolton?" She asked pushing him back out "Coz I know it aint mine!"

"Shar what are you doing! Just let him in coz if he doesn't come in then I'm leaving too' i stated crossing my arms

"Oh don't start with the dramatics Taylor!" She said throwing up her arms before stepping aside to let Troy in. I gave him a small smile and followed Shar into the living room where everyone was.

"I Knew it!" Gabby said getting up from her seat and giving me a hug before slapping my arm

"Ouch G, what the heck!"

"Where have you been that you couldn't answer your phone!"

"Sorry" I mumbled sitting next down as Troy hovered around unsure what to do with himself, I pulled him down next to him because I couldn't risk Gabriella attacking him again

"Well sorry isn't good enough! We called you like a million times" she said glaring at Troy "all you had to do was pick up and tell us you were with it!" She said pointing at Troy

"Okay Gabby I'm sorry, I'm here now" I sighed choosing to ignore the fact she'd called Troy 'it', that sounded like something Sharpay would say. I swear they'd been hanging out together too much recently

"well are you guys back together?" Sharpay asked putting her hands on her hips

"We were never together... remember" I replied rolling my eyes

"Oh you know what I mean!"

"No... we aren't" I said glancing at Troy

"Well at least I know you haven't lost your mind yet" She sighed and sat down, finally it was silent and I could breathe, I felt Troy's hand cover mine, he hadn't said anything yet. He soothingly rubbed he thumb over my palm to calm me down now that the twenty-one questions were over.

"I thought you weren't together?" Gabby question pointing at our hands

"We aren't" Troy finally spoke

"I wasn't talking to you!" She replied through clenched teeth

"Gabby will you quit! Can we just go to sleep, it's nearly four in the morning" I said getting up

"Fine, but Troy is not sleeping in your room seeing as you guys quote aren't together unqoute, he can sleep on the couch" Sharpay said getting up as we all got up and followed her.

"Taylor you're in Ryan's room, he's staying at a hotel with Kelsi" she said as she threw me some pyjamas,

"Gabby you and Chad can sleep in the first guest room, third door to you're right" She said as Gabby nodded and said goodnight before going down the hall

"Zekey you're with me" She smiled "OH AND NO HAVING SEX!" she shouted down the hall causing everyone to laugh, she knew full well Gabby was waiting until marriage or at least trying to, not that Chad helped the matter. The most ironic thing about that statement was the fact everyone knew her and Zeke were the ones who were having sex out of the six of us, I guess that's why it was so funny.

I went downstairs to see how Troy was and hand him his blanket and pillow before going to bed myself. I found him sitting topless on the couch and I had to fight hard to keep the smile off my face. It was hard seeing as he had an amazing body.

"Hey you" I smiled sitting down next to him and handing him his stuff

"Hey yourself"

"Sorry about G and Shar" I replied sympathetically

"It's okay, I like that you have protective friends" He laughed

"yeah more like crazy friends!" I replied as we laughed together

"So anyway good night" I smiled as I got up to leave

"good night Tay" He said pausing as though he wanted to say something else but then deciding against it. I nodded and left the room.

I sighed as I thought about him, I was no closer to knowing what was going on with him 'breaking up' with me but I was too tired to find out tonight. I slept the easiest I'd slept in ages that night which was odd considering I had a lot to think about.

We all woke up late the next morning; it was a good thing the Evans were away for the whole weekend. It was about midday when I finally got out of bed, I went downstairs to find everyone already up with Gabriella making pancakes in the kitchen.

"Nice of to finally join us Mckessie" Gabby smiled, I smiled back before scanning the room, I didn't see Troy

"He's having a shower" Gabby said reading my mind

"I wasn't wondering" I smirked

"Yeah and I'm black" she replied as we all laughed

"Whatever I'm going to shower too" I replied as I left the room

I quickly showered and dressed in a pair of sweats and a white tank top; I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and went downstairs. I found everyone already eating and laughing, thank God they weren't still trying to kill Troy anymore. He was sat next to Sharpay laughing about something she said. I grabbed the seat in between Zeke and Gabby and opposite Troy.

"Here I saved you a pancake" Gabby said handing me a plate "Chad was about to eat it if I hadn't stopped him"

"Thanks G" I smiled as I started eating. We continued talking and laughing about Zeke's pitiful attempts at dancing last night and Chad's hair tie breaking during him and Gabby's slow dance and then blowing up into an even bigger afro than it already was. Apparently Troy and this cheerleader had won prom king and queen but seeing as he wasn't there they gave it to Chad and Gabby was fuming when the cheerleader started grinding on Chad during the slow dance.

"So where did you two get to then?" Shar asked smirking

"We just drove around" I shrugged

"for four hours?" Zeke said

"Yep" Troy replied smiling "I don't think I have any gas left"

"What so you guys are telling me you drove around Albuquerque for four hours?" Chad asked

"Yep" I said

"DOING WHAT!" he asked

"Ohmygosh Taylor your still a virgin right?" Gabby asked making me choke on my juice

"Of course I am! What do you think this is?!" I replied as she let out a nervous laugh

"Too bad man" Chad said to Troy laughing

"Oh shut it Chad! It's not like you're getting any either" Gabby said smacking his head as we all laughed

"Dude, you got called out" Zeke laughed as Chad rubbed his temple

We had moved into the living room to watch a film when the door bell rang.

"Ugh! Who could that be?" Shar asked as she went to answer the door and returned to the living room with my Dad behind her

"Err Tay your dad is here" She said stepping aside

"Dad what are you doing here?" I asked

"We have dinner with your Grandparents in an hour remember, I told you yesterday morning" he replied as he smiled at the group before his eyes landed on Troy

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry I completely forgot, let me go get my stuff" I said heading upstairs not before glancing at Troy and noticing the look that my father had given him. I came back downstairs five minutes later to find the living room still silent.

"Okay Dad let me just say bye to my friends, will you take my bag to the car?" I asked pouting and handing it to him as he went outside

"Well erm I guess, I'll see you later guys" I said as I went round hugging everyone, before pausing at Troy

"Erm bye" I said holding out my hand for him to shaking much to his amusement. Well I didn't know whether I was meant to hug him or not did I

"Bye Tay, call me tonight if you can" He asked as he shook my hand before pulling me into a hug

"Okay" I whispered in his ear as I wrapped my arms around him "I'll try"

I quickly left and got into the car with my Dad. The ride home was silent and unnerving. I could tell he wasn't too happy about seeing Troy there; I really wanted to know what on earth was going on between those two. It was obvious to everyone that something weird was going on and I was going to find out what.

"Honey, why was Troy there?" My Dad finally asked me

"Dad, Zeke and Chad are his best friends and they're dating my best friends" I replied "anyway we didn't even talk at all, even that's what you're worried about" I said rolling my eyes

"Baby, I'm just trying to protect you, that boy isn't what you want" He smiled patting my shoulder

"And how would you know what I want Dad!" I replied angry

"I just do baby, you're too young to know, they'll be other boys out there that are better than Troy" He said in the most patronising tone, I sighed as we pulled into our drive way. I'd promised Troy not to fight with my Dad about this so I had to bite my tongue

"Your right daddy" I replied doing my best to plaster a smile on my face. Thank God my grandparents were here. I'm sure I would have killed my Dad otherwise. Dinner with my Grandparents was going pretty well until my Grandma asked me about having a boyfriend and I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Well I'm in love with this boy but Daddy says he's not good enough for me and I'm too young to know anything, even though may I add I'm eighteen in a month" I huffed on the verge of tears

"Taylor!" My father said trying to stop me from continuing but I didn't bite my tongue this time

"Oh and did I tell you he threatened him to make him leave me alone and when he didn't I don't know what Daddy did, but he did something, and Grandma Gina he'd waited six months out of eight months to ask me out when I told him about the promise I made to Mom, six out of eight months!" I stated "He'd even started coming to church with me Grandma, church! And grandma he didn't even kiss me! He never even tried because he knew my promise was important to me" I finished broken, my heart was broken and I wasn't going to hide it anymore, what was the use in pretending now

"So Daddy broke my heart" I said calmly as I excused myself from the table, tears falling down my cheeks

"Taylor Mckessie you will sit down right now!" I heard my father shout from the dining table

"Or what Daddy?!" I shouted back "You Gonna threaten my future too!" I spat back trying desperately to calm myself

"Do you see what this boy has turned my daughter in to? She never used to talk to me like that before!" My father said trying to get my Grandparents onside

"Taylor baby girl, why don't me and you go for a drive and you can tell me all about it and we can leave your Grandma and father to talk about this" Suggested Grandpa Joe, I slowly nodded grateful to be getting out of that house and got my coat to leave

We got into the car and I'd been telling my Grand dad about Troy for the last hour, from how we met to everything we went through to stay together to how it all went wrong when my father finally met him.

"So you see Grandpa Joe, we haven't even done anything wrong! And daddy is being a complete moron!" I huffed

"You will not talk about your father like that young lady... even when it's true" He smiled as I giggled and nodded

"So why don't you take me to meet this Troy if he's so great and form what you told me he sounds great" He smiled as I got excited, I got to see Troy again!

"Okay, let me call him and see what he's doing" I replied as I found his number on my phone and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey Tay" i heard his voice sigh into the phone

"Hey Troy" I smiled "Are you busy?"

"Not right now, why whats up?" He asked

"Nothing; but I have someone who would really like to meet you, can you come out?" I asked biting my lip

"Yeah sure, where are you right now?"

"On your street, we're gonna come pick you up okay be ready"

"Okay but this better not be another one of you're crazy relatives who wants to kill me" He laughed as I shook my head

"Don't worry you'll like them, see you in five" I said as I hung up smiling. We drove up till we got to his house and I got out of the car, we hadn't parked up because there was no point. I was just about to ring the door bell when Troy opened the door and pulled me away from it and run toward the car.

"My parents are in" He said as though that was supposed to make sense to me, so what if his parents were in, they liked me.

"So?" I asked when we got inside the car

"Long story, I'll explain later" He said as I nodded from my seat in the front. I introduced him to my Grandfather who drove us to the ice cream parlour near the park

"So Troy, I hear my granddaughter and you having causing quite a fuss over your new relationship" Grandpa Jo said from across the table. I was sitting next to Troy who seemed to be very nervous, we'd all ordered milkshakes. I took hold of Troy's right hand under the table to reassure him that my Grand dad wasn't going to kill him. He smiled at the gesture before answering my Grand dad.

"Yes sir, you could say that" Troy cheekily smiled as I continued to hold his hand under the table "But it wasn't intention nor was it the reaction we'd hoped for when we told Mr. Mckessie our plans for when Taylor turned eighteen"

"I know son and from what Taylor told me I'm pretty surprised myself" He replied

"So do you love my granddaughter?" He continued

"yes sir I do; I've never been in love before Taylor" He said as he smiled at me "but what I feel for her now can only be described as love because it's more than a physical attraction, like I said we don't plan on dating until Taylor's eighteen and for these past seven months I have just been falling in love with her more and more each day. She's such a beautiful person, funny, intelligent, witty and best of all she's keeps me on my toes. She doesn't let me get away with anything sir. I could just sit and talk to Taylor for the rest of my life; I've never had that type of relationship with any girl before if I'm honest. Taylor just makes me want to be a better person because I know she deserves the best and if I let myself slip then I know someone better will come alone take her from me and I can't begin to imagine my life without her. The last two weeks have been awful without her I don't want to live the rest of my life like that." He finished looking at me as I smiled from ear to ear

"And I feel the same Grandpa Joe, please don't let Daddy split us up" I pleaded as my eyes begun to water again "Please Grandpa"

"I'll talk to your father baby, I'm not promising anything but I'll talk to him" he said "I can see you two have something beautiful, it reminds me of me and your Grandma when we were your age. No one thought I was good enough for her then, but our love proved them wrong, I tell you something if you love someone enough you can never truly stop fighting for them" He said smiling at me and Troy

"Now how about we get you home before your father starts to worry" He said as I nodded and got up with Troy, completely forgetting we were still holding hands, it was as though it was what came naturally to us. I think my Grand dad noticed but chose not to say anything about it, it wasn't until we got to the car that I realised and let go shyly. We dropped Troy off and drove home in silence; mostly because I was praying to God my Grandma had managed to talk some sense into my deranged father.

"We're back!" My grand dad shouted as he opened the door

"In the living room" I heard my Grandma call back

"Taylor sweety are you okay?" My Grandma asked as I sat down next to her

"yeah, what's he saying?" I asked referring to my father

"Well I think I should leave him to tell you himself" She replied as she got up "But before I do, I've got some good news for you! Your Grandfather and I are going to stay with you until graduation!" She smiled as she left the room

"Thank God, I don't think I can handle another month being in this house alone with him" I mumbled

"So, father dearest what do we have to discuss?" I asked as I sat opposite him folding my arms

"Taylor I'm sorry for how I've been for the past few weeks, I'm just scared to lose you baby. You're all I have left now that your mother's gone and seeing the way that boy looked at you reminded me of how I looked at your mother. You are his world and your mine too, I guess I just didn't want to accept the fact you were growing up. I was just trying to protect you baby I promise, I didn't want to hurt you even though I did" He sighed rubbing a hand over his face

I sighed as I looked at him, I really wanted to remain angry at him but he was my father at the end of the day "I want to say its okay but it isn't daddy! I still love you, you're my father but I really don't like you very much right now" I replied honestly

"I know but Taylor you're just so young, why do you want to rush into this? You've got the rest of your life to fall in love baby"

"But I didn't ask to feel this way Daddy, it just happened okay"

"I know, you usually don't ask to fall in love baby, well I guess what I'm trying to say is that if he makes you happy then I guess I can accept that" he said smiling and I jumped up and hugged him

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Daddy!" I screamed

"Okay baby, but please promise me you'll wait till you're eighteen to start dating, at least I've still got a month to change your mind" he laughed as I hit his shoulder

"And dad, you will never lose me, ever I promise!" I replied kissing his cheek.

"Daddy, what did you threaten Troy with... just out of interest?" I smirked wanting to finally know what the fuss was all about

"Oh I think I'll let you discuss that with him... after him and his parents come over for lunch tomorrow after church" He smiled "I guess you'll want to call Troy and put him out of his misery, then ask him to ask his parents if they can make it. Grandma promised she'd cook too" He winked as he walked out of the room leaving me jump and down on the sofa like a three year old, before gathering myself together and then walking out of the living room like the mature woman that I was, to meet my Dad's smirking face.

I raced up the stairs to phone Troy and continue jumping up and down on my bed.

"Hey Troy!" I screamed into my phone as I heard him laugh

"Someone's happy" he said

"I've got my reasons, now come over so I can share them with you" I giggled

"Tay, you know I can't do that, you saw the way your Dad looked at me this afternoon"

"Troy trust me come over okay, see you in 10 minutes!" I said into the phone as I hung up and continued jumping up and down on my bed celebrating my victory. I was interrupted by my phone ringing from Gabby five minutes later

"Hey G" I said breathlessly into the phone

"Hey Tay, what you doing, you sound out of breathe?"

"Jumping up and down on my bed, you know the usual" I laughed

"OH! So what's the celebration? How's Grandma Gina?, tell her I miss her! I'm coming over for dinner tomorrow if she's still there!" She said into the phone all at once

"Troy's the celebration but I'll explain that tomorrow at church or something, I'll pass on the message and sorry G you can't, My Dad's invited Troy and his parents over for lunch tomorrow!" I said

"What! Really? That's great Tay. Okay so I'll come over for dinner tomorrow. I mean they won't be at your house forever, come on Tay I miss my second Grandma!" She complained

"Okay, okay! Come over then, man you're pushy! And what did I tell you about trying to steal my Grandma!"

"Hey my Grandma lives in Spain! I need someone to fill the gap!, Besides your just jealous because she loves me more! Wait, can I come over now?" She asked as I rolled my eyes

"First of all my Grandma doesn't love you more and no you can't because Troy is!" I laughed as she groaned

"Tay! He's stealing your time with me and my time with my Grandma! He's coming over tomorrow why does he need to come over now! Ugh! I think I preferred it when your Dad didn't like him!" She groaned

"Gabby!"

"JOKING! But really what made your Dad change his mind?" She asked as I heard my door bell ring

"I'll tell you tomorrow, Troy's here!" I laughed as she mumbled something "Love you G, see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah yeah just go on ahead and ditch me for your almost man!" She said as we both laughed and hung up. She was a mess; she must have forgotten the a million and one times she hung up on me to talk to Chad. I run downstairs to make sure my Dad hadn't suddenly changed his mind about Troy. I found him in the kitchen talking to my Grandparents. I run and hugged him taking him by surprise.

"Err Tay, I don't think you should do that in front of your Grandparents" He said pushing me off and looking scared

"Why?" I asked looking at my Grandparents who were about to start laughing

"You guys were messing with him weren't you?" I asked

"Come on we had to have a little fun before you gave him the good news" My Grandma said shrugging her shoulders and walking out of the room "Oh by the way your father said Troy isn't allowed upstairs"

"WHAT!"

"Come on baby girl one step at a time, just be happy he's allowed in the house" My Grandfather replied walking after his wife, I shrugged and smiled at Troy

"So you met my Grandparents huh?" I said as we walked into the living room and sat down

"Yeah, they said we weren't allowed any body contact not even a hug and I was only allowed to stand with in three metres of you or else your Grandfather would kill me" He said shuddering at the thought as I laughed

"Those two are crazy! So listen guess what happened?!" I asked as he looked at me confused

"My Dad changed his mind! We can be friends but we're only allowed to date after I'm eighteen which is cool!" I said hugging him and then realising he wasn't hugging me back

"Troy, no one's gonna kill you if you hug me!" I laughed at him as he threw his arms around me

"But I don't understand... what happened?" He asked as we let go of each other

"I guess my Grandma talked some sense into his crazy head, but all I know is he said we can be together!" I smiled

"You do not understand how happy I am to hear that and what about the threats?" He asked

"Well why don't you start by telling me what they were?" I asked

"Oh you don't want to know" He said shaking his head at the memory

"No I really want to know!" I said

"Okay okay... firstly he talked to my Dad and convinced him that we were bad for each other, that's why my Dad and I were arguing so much in school and then he came over with a one way plane ticket for the next day with your name on it saying If I didn't leave you alone then he'd send you to London to stay with your mum's side of the family and I would never see you again if I didn't break it off with you" he said sighing

"Oh damn my Dad is crazy" I laughed

"Taylor it's not funny, I thought I was never going to see you again! Do you know how scared I was! So I agreed because at least if you were in the same country as me I could get you back once we were in college and you were away from your Dad" He said

"So why didn't you just tell me instead breaking up with me for real?" I asked

"He said I couldn't or else he'd definitely do it as well as make sure all my scholarships were put under reconsideration by my colleges. My Dad went crazy and said if I didn't agree then he's send me away to stay with my aunt up in Spain, and I really couldn't risk that because then I really wouldn't ever see you again" He sighed

"Oh Troy! I'm sorry you had to go through all that!" I said rubbing his arm

"Damn! So what was your plan for after graduation?" I asked

"Well you were going to Stanford with Gabby and I was waiting for Berkeley to reply so that I could follow you there and we'd just start over in California without our crazy parents trying to screw us over" He shrugged

"You were going to follow me to California?" I asked as I stroked his cheek

"I promised I'd do whatever it takes Taylor, and at the time that's what it was going to take to be with you. Besides it's a good college" He replied putting his hand over mine before kissing the palm of my hand. It was funny because technically that was sort of our first kiss, even though it wasn't really a kiss.

"I love you Troy, I really do" I said cupping his face so his eyes were locked to mine "with all my heart, my soul, everything that I am. I love you, I love you, and I love you!" I repeated smiling and leaning my forehead on his.

"And I'm pretty sure I love you more Mckessie, I can't even beginning to explain and in exactly one month and one day you will be mine, forever. I told you I'd turn a while into forever." He smiled as he flicked my face "I love you and only you"

"Okay well you can go love my daughter from your house Troy, it's getting late son, I just talked to your Dad, but I look forward to seeing you and your parents for dinner tomorrow" My dad said from the living room door way causing us to quickly move away from each other.

"Yes sir" Troy replied getting up and pulling me up with him

"Oh and Troy, I'm sorry" My dad said as Troy nodded and smiled. I smiled at the interaction realising it was days like this that I loved my life. My heart went from being broken to whole in the space of a couple hours, the two most important men in my life standing under one roof without trying to kill each other and I was in love, truly, madly, and very deeply in love.

I led Troy to the door and said goodbye, the hug was a little tense I could tell he was still wary of my Dad watching us but I didn't care I had my heart back. I had Troy and no one was going to take that away from me, no one. Now all I had to do was make it to eighteen.


	13. Troy's World

**Thank you SO much for the reviews again guys, this chapter's really short but it's just to show you what it was like after the Dad thing because the next chapter is gonna be about her birthday and will be quite long! Anyway enjoy! And review ******

It was exactly twelve days until my eighteenth birthday and I was as excited as ever as I made my way through the hall to my locker that morning. My Grandma had given me a ride to school so I still hadn't seen Troy this morning like I usually had. The east High population had been particularly amused when Troy and I entered school that Monday after prom weekend together, I swear our relationship had kept them so entertained this year with our constant drama throughout the year.

Troy and my father had begun to develop quite a close relationship in during the last few weeks, as had Mr. Bolton and I. The dinner had gone really smoothly and the turns out the two men have a lot more in common than they'd thought. These days they regularly play golf together, I didn't even know my Dad liked golf but hey, as long as they aren't planning any more schemes of keeping us apart I don't care what they do together. My Grandparents were great, they kept the whole household alive and Troy was a complete hit with my Grandma who was constantly telling me about his amazing face structure, her exact words were 'God took a few extra minutes when he made that boy', I had a strange feeling my Grandma was in love with my almost, almost boyfriend.

"Hey crazy ladies" I said to Gabby and Shar who were standing by my locker

"About time too!" Shar exclaimed throwing her hands up, it was 8.25 in the morning and she has already started

"What now?" I asked Gabby as I opened my locker and grabbed my books, before noticing the small purple envelope in my locker

"She's just tripping because her and Zeke had an argument this morning" replied Gabby shrugging "what's that?" she asked as I opened the envelope

"I dunno but I'm about to find out" I smiled, there was a small card inside which I opened quickly and read out loud. It was two verses from one of my favourite poems, Pablo Neruda

"_I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where._

_I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;_

_so I love you because I know no other way_

_than this: where I does not exist, nor you,_

_so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,_

_so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep." _

"XVII I don't love you by Pablo Neruda" Gabby and I said at the time

"Aww how sweet... I'm guessing Troy?" She said before dragging a sulky Sharpay with us to class

"Why won't Zekey do that for me!" She pouted folding her arms as we entered homeroom, I smiled shyly at Troy as I went to sit next to him

"Thank you" I whispered into his ear

"What for?" he smiled

"The poem in my locker" I replied as he blushed

"Oh that... I kind of missed you this morning" he smiled

"Aww I missed you too, although I have a feeling my Grandma missed you more" I replied giggling as he rolled his eyes

"Well I missed Grandma Gina too!" He teased as I hit his arm

"Hey! Watch yourself mister" I said pointing at him

"So it's twelve days until your mine" he said taking my hand

"Really? And here was I thinking its twelve days until I'm eighteen" I smirked

"You wanna play it like that huh?"

"I'm not playing anything Troy" I replied smiling as Mr. Smith walked into the room

"Okay Troy and Taylor please spare us the flirting this morning, I'm sure everyone wants to keep their breakfast down today" He said sitting at his desk causing the class to snigger at us. I looked away from Troy's eyes and rolled my eyes at him as he continued to take the class register.

That day had gone pretty much the same way everyday have gone for the last two weeks, slow. All I wanted to do was turn eighteen but it didn't seem to come fast enough. There was something about the way I loved Troy which I found so pure, didn't lust over him or imagine all the things I could do to him. I just loved him; I loved his mind, his spirit, his soul, his eyes, his smile, his laugh... you get where I'm going. I hadn't thought about Troy in _that_ way, like not in a way that I wanted to jump into bed with him. I mean obviously I did but not until we were married, I wasn't looking forward to telling him that part. He had already waited this long just so we could be girlfriend and boyfriend so I thought I'd keep that part secret until he brought it up I guess. I was kind of hoping he'd guess, I mean he knew I was deadly serious about my faith and Gabby had told Chad they weren't having sex until they were married so I just hoped he'd figure it out. I also hoped he hadn't been thinking about having sex with me for a long time because I wasn't getting married until after college or at least my third or fourth year of college. That was at least three years from now minimum, oh boy that conversation was going to be interesting.

Sharpay and Zeke had just made up and were in the middle of a heavy make-out session, whilst Chad and Gabby had gone off together somewhere; he had a surprise for her or something. I was waiting for Troy when he texted me to meet him on the roof. I grabbed my bag and curiously made my way up to the roof top where I found him waiting at the top of the stair case.

"Hey" he smiled grabbing my hand and pulling me toward him

"Hey yourself" I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his neck "So what am I doing here?" I asked

"Oh you know just seeing your man... to be" He laughed

"Oh really and where is he cause all I see in front of me is some lunkhead basketball player" I said pretending to look around for someone

"Hey! You said you wouldn't call me that anymore" He pouted and I laughed and released myself from his grip and leading him away from the staircase and further into the roof.

"Wow it's beautiful up here" I smiled as he nodded "So what's the deal?" I asked

"I just wanted some me and you time I guess, away from your crazy friends and grandparents" He said hugging me from behind

"I'll have you know, my friends are perfectly sane and so is my family!" I smiled into his embrace

"Whatever, Gabby's mad at me because your Grandma loves me more than her and she keeps going on about how I'm stealing her family, your grandfather still finds it funny to threaten to shoot me each time I come to see you, your Grandma thinks I'm her 'toy boy' and your father and Sharpay... well enough said" He chuckled

"Oh come on! You're just being dramatic!" I said turning around to face him

"You try being me for a day and you'll see what I go through for you each day" He smirked

"Are you trying to say I'm not worth it Troy Bolton?" I smirked back

"Oh you are worth every crazy minute I spend with them and so much more Taylor you know that right?" He said as he cupped my face in his hand removing them from my waist as I smiled at him and nodded

"That's why I love you, because you're brave enough to take on my crazy world and still love me" I replied smiling up at his cheekily

"Yeah I'm either very brave or very stupid" he laughed as I hit his arm

We spent the lunch hour on the roof, talking, laughing and being. Being in Troy's world was where I wanted to be, I knew that for certain. When I was with him everything changed, he made everything simple, no complication that was ever too complicated, and no problem that didn't have a solution. Troy Bolton's world was one big adventure where nothing was impossible. Troy's world was quickly becoming a world I didn't ever want to leave.


	14. eighteen

'_24 hrs till us'- Troy_, I smiled as I read the text that Thursday morning when I came out of the shower. He been texting me the same countdown texts every morning for the past week. I quickly got dressed in a cream coloured sun dress that stopped just past my knees. Gabriella and Sharpay had bought it for me from French Connection to cheer me up during mine and Troy's mini 'break-up' and I was yet to wear it. I could tell from the view in my window that the New Mexico sun was beating down heavily. This weekend was going to go be amazing I could feel it in my bones. I grabbed my gold gladiator sandals and book bag and went down stairs for breakfast.

"24 hours and I'm eighteen!" I sang into the kitchen

"Baby please don't say that it breaks my heart!" My dad laughed as I kissed him on the cheek

"Morning to you too Daddy!"

I grabbed a muffin and nibbled on it for breakfast, not feeling very hungry I was just looking forward to hearing Troy ring the doorbell. In fact he would be here any minute now, I smiled at the thought as I continued to talk to my Dad. _'RING RING!' _that was my cue to evacuate the kitchen, I jumped up and run to the door, I had to or my Grandma would get there before me and try as she did every morning to steal my boy... so very almost boyfriend. I swung open the door and jumped into his arms as my disappointed Grandma stood smirking at the bottom of the stairs.

"You better leave my man alone Taylor!" she said approaching us,

"Here was I thinking he was mine" I mumbled rolling my eyes as I quickly grabbed Troy's arm, pulled him out of the house and closed the door behind us laughing.

"Grandma Gina's a trip" He laughed as we walked to his car and drove to school. The drive there was strange, there wasn't much talking, but there was a lot of smiling and stealing looks at the other when they weren't looking. There was a mixture of anticipation, excitement and tension in the car. We walked into school as we always did but our hands kept brushing together, as though we just wanted to hold hands. Each time it happened we look at each other smile and shyly, I was so glad to bump into Shar and Gabby in the hallway.

"TAY TAY!" they both said at the same time smiling before dragging me away from Troy. I looked back and smiled shrugged my shoulders sympathetically at him.

"That's the dress we got you! looks hot girl" Shar said smiling as Gabby nodded

"So you excited?" Gabby asked

"NO! I'm scared!" I replied as they laughed

"What for? In like fifteen hours you're gonna be eighteen and you're gonna be official wifey Bolton!" Sharpay exclaimed

"EXACTLY!" I replied "He's my first _boyfriend" _I whispered as they laughed

"So what Tay, Chad was my first boyfriend and we were fine" Gabby shrugged

"And anyway you guys were kind of going out for the last eight months without the kissing and dates; I mean you even did the whole dramatic 'break-up' thing and the 'disapproving' parents' routine. You did everything a couple usually does without being a couple! Only thing that's going to change is you can make-out. Trust me that's the best part" Sharpay winked as Gabby and I laughed. Guess she was right; I shrugged off the uncertain feeling in my stomach and followed them to homeroom.

That day seemed to have been the longest day of my life, it's as though time had literally slowed down. My lesson dragged on until forever, each time I looked at the clock, I could have sworn the hand was slowing down at each second, each minute passing by thirty seconds longer than the one before. All I wanted to happen was lunch to come because after that I had study and with no work left to do this year I could spend it with Troy. Troy, was it even possible to love someone as much as I loved him? It felt like my heart would jump out of my chest at the very thought of him. He just seemed to make me happy, he never completed me, no because I was already complete before I met him but he made me smile. He always made me smile, even when he was purposely annoying me, he made me smile. Even when he'd come over and spend more time discussing basketball with my Grandfather than talking to me he made me smile. Come to think of it even that time when he had been late to meet me after school, he'd made me smile. Smiling just came naturally when it came to Troy Bolton.

"10 hours and 28 minutes Mckessie" He whispered into my ear that lunch as he sat down next to me in the canteen that afternoon.

I smiled. "Hey you, how's your day been?" I asked feeling strangely shy

"It just got a whole lot better" He winked offering me some of his chicken sandwich as I shook my head to say no. I had nothing to say back, no smart comment, no flirty reply. I was dry, why was this happening all of a sudden today of all days? I bit my lip and pulled out a book, to pretend to read.

"Okay Tay, what's up?" He asked putting down his sandwich

"Nothing, why do you ask" I replied not looking up from my book

"You're reading your book upside down again" He smirked as I let out a small embarrassed laugh and put my book down.

"Nothing's up... I think?" I sighed "I dunno Troy, I feel weird around you today" I shrugged

"Gee Thanks Tay" he said rolling his eyes

"Well you're the one who asked!" I replied huffing and crossing my arms

"Okay well what do you mean you feel 'weird'?" He asked looking insulted

"I dunno Troy I just do" I replied annoyed as Shar, Gabby, Zeke and Chad approached us and sat down exchanging looks as they looked at us.

"Fine" He replied as he returned to eating his sandwich

"Fine!" I huffed picking up my book again, once again not noticing it's upside down

"It's upside down" He smirked glancing at me

"Maybe I like reading this upside down!" I said

"Okay what's going now?" Sharpay asked

"Why don't you ask your friend?" He replied "She's the one feeling 'weird' around me!" He said getting up to leave the table

"Well maybe if you didn't make me feel weird, I wouldn't feel weird!" I replied through clenched teeth, rolling my eyes

"Ohmygosh are you guys serious! That has to be the dumbest argument I ever heard!" Sharpay said throwing up her arms "Troy sit down!" She ordered as he looked at me and slowly sat back down.

"You guys are arguing because Taylor feels 'weird' ugh! Of course she feels 'weird' tomorrow you are going to be her first boyfriend! DUH, you're going to be her first kiss, her first date and God knows her first lover..."

"SHAR!" I shouted before she finished what she was going to say

"'Okay okay, but you get my point, it's natural for you to feel weird! Gabby did when Chad and her had their first date, I did when Zeke first asked me out, it's not a big deal! And Troy you should know that, you've been through the majority of the females at East High" She finished

"how was I meant to know she felt weird about that! All she said was that she felt weird around me full stop!" he replied

"'she' is here you know! I'd appreciate it if you stopped referring to me in second person!" I said glaring at him

"Now you're just being difficult Taylor" He said

"Okay, we are going to go sit over there because clearly you two have some issues! Come over when you sorted them out" Gabby said getting up as everyone followed and left

"I am not!" I replied crossing my arms

"Fine, you're acting like a three year old now" He smirked, causing me to smile

"See there's my smile" He replied smiling back "Is that why you were feeling 'weird' Tay?"

"Kind of..." I smiled shyly "Like Sharpay said you've had so many girls"

"Don't remind me..." He said "But listen if that's what making you feel weird, just remember for the last eight month you have been my only girl, I mean I haven't kissed a girl in eight month... so this in kind of like my first kiss... again" He smiled "Any way all those girls weren't you so they don't count anymore"

I smiled, there he was again, making me smile "I hate it when you make me smile you know that Bolton?"

"That's why I love doing it Mckessie" He winked as we got up to leave the canteen with his arm around my shoulder.

Troy had dropped off home at school and only stayed for an hour before making up some lame excuse about having to leave early to have dinner with his Dad. Troy never left early, ever in fact most nights my Dad had to kick him out because he often stayed beyond my curfew. I didn't mind that he'd gone early I just wanted to know what exactly he was planning; I knew he was planning something I just didn't know what it was. Anyway I was too excited about tomorrow to worry about Troy and his disappearing act. I'd spent the evening playing scrabble with my crazy Grandma who kept making up words, it was crazy. I decided to have an early night, simply because the earlier I slept the quicker morning would come. It was something I'd done every Christmas when I was younger and it usually worked.

It was eleven now and couldn't close my eyes for more than two minutes at a go. It was getting ridiculous, in less than an hour I'd be eighteen and most importantly free to love Troy. I got out of bed and decided to find a book to read, hoping that I could read myself to sleep. It didn't work, I ended up reading the first eight chapters of 'Pride and Prejudice' in almost an hour and I didn't seem to be getting drowsy yet. I got out of bed again and looked at the clock opposite me. It was nearly midnight, my eighteenth birthday was exactly a few seconds away and I decided to have a little countdown of my own, in five, four, three, two, one!

I was officially eighteen and still awake, I grumbled to myself because I knew the midnight texts would begin to come in, first being Gabby and then whoever else after that. What I hadn't anticipated on was the phone call I got when I was lying on my bed. Without bothering to look at the caller I.D I quickly picked up. Maybe they could talk to me to sleep or something.

"Hello?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The voice on the other end whispered,

"Err Thanks but who is this?" I asked yawning, see it was working already in a matter of minutes I'd be asleep

"Nice of you to recognise your man's voice" He replied

"Oh, sorry Troy!" I giggled "Aww you phoned at midnight"

"Of course, I wanted to be the first person you spoke to and saw when you turned eighteen"

"Aww, well you are the first person I spoke to but I think my crazy family will beat you to the whole seeing thing" I replied smiling into the phone

"Well why don't you step out onto your balcony and we'll see about that" He replied as I curiously made my way to the window, I pulled back the curtains and pushed the big glass door open. I walked onto my balcony and looked around not spotting him anywhere, until I reached the rail and looked over the edge. There he was, standing at the bottom with a small cupcake in his hand. It had a single candle in the middle. He eyes met mine and I slowly hung up the phone.

"Hey!" I shout-whispered over the rail

"Hey!" He replied smiling cheekily up at me "come down" He said signalling me with his hand, I nodded and proceeded to sneak out of my room and down the stairs, so I didn't wake anyone up. I slowly unlocked the front door and left it on its latch as I turned and slowly walked forward towards Troy who was now casually leaning up against his car.

"Happy birthday baby" He said as he pushed the small cake in front of me "Go ahead make a wish" He winked as I closed my eyes and blew out the candles.

"You have no idea how long I've wanting to say that" He said when I finally opened my eyes smiling as he pulled me into his chest with his right hand

"Make a wish?" I questioned

"No, happy birthday" He replied as I giggled and nodded "So what did you wish for?" He asked

"If I tell it won't come true remember" I smiled up at him as he shook his head

"So you're eighteen?" He asked as I nodded

"That I am"

"Wow, it doesn't feel real that we finally made it here" He smiled putting his arms around my waist as he placed the cake on the hood of his car "But I am so happy that we did Taylor, so happy"

"So am I" I replied putting my arms around his neck and looking into his eyes, the same eyes I seemed to love almost more than life itself

"Taylor Anne Mckessie, would you like to go out with me sometime?" He asked as we both laughed

"Troy, I would love to go out with you sometime" I replied smiling as a slightly surreal silence covered us.

I continued to stare at him as a million thoughts run through my head at that moment but my heart was calm. It wasn't beating extra fast or extra slow or anything. It was just beating, I didn't take in the fact it was cold outside and the cold was seeping through my cotton pyjamas. I didn't even care that I was wearing my embarrassing purple and yellow stripped pyjamas. It didn't even cross my mind that our heads seemed to be inching further and further into each other until I could feel his breathe against my face, I didn't notice him push bangs from my forehead or gentle tilt my head up towards his. My eyes closed as our lips gentle met, his hand around my waist pushing me harder against his body, the other running through my hair. There it was my first kiss, gentle and soft and oh so sensuous. I pulled back smiling before moving forward again and repeating the kiss we'd just had, this time I allowed his tongue to slowly slide through to my mouth as he slowly massaged my mouth with his tongue before we both pulled away. It was perfect, he wasn't force or too passionate, he smiled down at me and continued to place small enjoyable kiss on my lips, moving onto my nose and finally onto my forehead before he leaned his head on mine.

"I need to go in before my Dad and his gun come to get you" I whispered into the silence not really meaning it, but knowing I'd rather still have a boyfriend when I woke up in the morning

"It doesn't matter just stay a while longer" He smiled as I nodded knowing neither one of us wanted to leave that moment, I leant up and kissed him again just do I could remember just how soft his lips were,

"Can't get enough of me already Mckessie" He smirked as I looked away from him knowing it was true, I buried my head into his chest and heard him chuckle

"I really do need to go babe" I whispered, _babe _wow that sounded good when I said it. I mean he was my 'baby' now, I smiled as the thought as I pulled away from him, picking up my cupcake from his car and leading him to my door.

"Thanks for the cake" I smiled when we got to the door

"It's okay baby, just don't eat it" he laughed rubbing the back of his neck nervously

"Why not?" I asked amused

"Well when I got home, I tried to make you a big cake, like a real birthday cake... and well those are the bits that didn't get burned or undercooked, so yeah you might not wanna eat that" He finished as I giggled into chest

"Thanks for the heads up" I smiled as the silence hit us again, I held onto him again before gently pushing him away

"I love you" He smiled as he traced my lips with his fingers

"I love you too" I replied leaning up to kiss him again, and again, and again until it just got ridiculous we both ended up giggling. "Sharpay was right, making out is the best part" I smiled

"For once I think I agree with crazy pay" He smirked as I playfully hit him

"Stop calling her that, good night baby" I smiled removing his hands from my waist to his annoyance

"I'll see you in the morning" He grumbled as I smiled at his antics

"Hey, that's less than eight hours away" I reminded him

"Your right I waited eight months, what's eight more hours" He smirked stealing another kiss from my lips "now go inside before I refuse to let you go" He smirked gently pushing me through my door. I closed my door slowly before jumping up and down and silently screaming, so I didn't wake my family up.

"I just my first kiss, I just got a boyfriend, I just had my first kiss, I just got a boyfriend!" I sung dancing around

"That's nice baby now go to bed it's nearly one" I heard my Dad say from behind me as I abruptly stopped and laughed nervously.

"Hey Daddy! Bye Daddy!" I laughed running upstairs and falling onto my bed, finally falling asleep.

Morning came quickly, it sucked that I had to go to school on my birthday but I didn't care I was used to it by now so I showered, dressed and run downstairs.

"I'm eighteeeennnnnnn" I screamed as I run into the kitchen and jumped on my father

"I told you never to say that again!" He sighed as I giggled

"So where's my present?" I smiled getting straight to the point

"Why don't you go outside and see for yourself" He winked as I run outside knowing it could only be a car, I just wanted to see which car he'd got me.

"DADDY!" I screeched as I saw my beautiful Black Mercedes Benz CLK class Cabriolet, I run and hugged it jumping up and down, before remembering I had to thank my father

"Thank you, Thank you so much! And to think I'd been asking you for a mini-cooper all this time" I laughed as I hugged him, he handed me my keys and I run to get into my car, welcoming the beautiful smell of leather. I couldn't wait to show Troy especially because my car was now better than his SUV.

As soon as those thought run through my head, I saw him walking into my drive and smiled

"Okay, I'm gonna leave you to show Troy your new car, but make sure you come in for breakfast before you leave, you know Grandma cooked up something this morning" He winked as he playfully glared at Troy like he did every morning

"Do you see it baby?" I asked as I hugged him not wanting to take my eyes off my car

"Yeah I see it, it's better than mine" He shrugged "My girl had a better car than me, dang that's hurts" He laughed clutching his chest

"I know!" I laughed pulling him towards my car "wait where is your car?" I asked not seeing it parked anywhere

"I left it at home" He smiled

"You knew?"

"I picked it" He smiled as my mouth dropped, Troy and my father had gone car shopping together, that is something I never imagine would ever happen

"Wow, thank you!" I smirked as we leant up against my car, him in front of me

"That's it, just a simple thank you" He smirked "Our honey moon period finished already"

"Oh I wouldn't say that" I smirked pushing myself up towards his lips and kissing him as I whispered I love you against them.

We quickly went inside, hands finally being able to intertwine with each other. We welcomed the smell of pancakes as we indulged ourselves in a big breakfast, and made small talk with my family. Our eyes never left each other, smiling and smirking from across the table. He foot rested next to mine under the table and from time to time when no one was watching we'd just sit there and stare each other for longer than we should have. We finally left with twenty minutes left to get to school in my new car. I couldn't wait to see Gabby's face; she'd got her car on her eighteenth a few months ago and hadn't stopped driving it everywhere.

"Are you excited?" He asked as we got into my car

"I dunno, I have everything I want now" I smirked knowing he knew I meant him... and my new car of course

We were welcomed into school by 'crazy pay' holding up three balloons that said happy eighteen and a pink party hat on her head. I rolled my eyes at her craziness before welcoming her hug.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She screeched as she saw my car and pushed me aside to look at it "what is this! This is beautiful!" she smiled hugging my car

"I know!" I smiled jumping up and down as Troy watched on amused, Gabby finally pulled up with Chad a few minutes later.

"Ohmygosh! Taylor! You're eighteen! AHH!" Screamed Gabby as she hugged me and then saw Sharpay hugging my car and jumped up and down joining in with the screaming.

"Oh man! How long have they been like this?" Chad asked Troy

"Last five minutes" He replied nonchalantly

We finally calmed down realising we had to go to homeroom before we were late; I reluctantly left my car not trusting the school car park to keep it safe.

"Come on Taylor, you're going to ruin your perfect record if you don't move away from your car" Troy whined pulling me away

"Okay okay I'm coming... I just need a moment..." I mumbled as I felt his lips crash into mine

"come on now!" he smirked knowing he now had my full attention "now" He said as he placed my hand in his and led me away from my car and very amused friends.

"You guys already at it!" Sharpay smirked as we walked into homeroom.

Today was going perfectly, school had just finished and rumours of mine and Troy's new public relationship didn't cause much of a stir, seeing as almost everyone was expecting it to happen sooner or later. They just wanted to know why it took so long to happen. I was now at Gabby's we were meant to be meeting everyone else at my favourite restaurant to celebrate my eighteenth. I didn't want to make a big deal about it, just wanted to spend it with close friends so Troy and Gabby had organised the evening and it was up to Gabby to get us there on time.

"Gabby it's not a big deal, I'll just wear some jeans and a nice top, it's just dinner, all that matters is that you guys are there" I replied as Gabby shoved a dress in my face, it was a new dress I hadn't seen before but she was insistent on me wearing it.

"Taylor just wear the dress okay!" She said through clenched teeth as I finally nodded and agreed, putting on the short black dress, she smiled and then pulled out some purple heels, I hadn't seen before either and insisted I wear them. I had never seen Gabby act so forceful before in my life, but I decided not to argue.

We finally left half an hour later, we were already late and then Gabby said she had to pass by my house because apparently my Dad had to see me for some reason before dinner.

"Gabby you know how Shar gets when we're late! I'll just call him!" I protested as we pulled up in front of my house

"Oh she won't mind waiting, let me just text her and let her know we'll be a little late" She smirked as she pulled out her phone and got out of the car with me.

I unlocked the door still arguing with Gabby about Sharpay, and walked into my surprisingly dark house, I made my way with Gabby to the living room shouting dad and switched on the light

"SURPRISE!" shouted the majority of East High along with my father and crazy Grandparents, while a satisfied Gabby stood next to me smirking

"OH. MY. GOSH!" I said startled "Gabby!" I screeched hugging her as she returned the hug

"Well it wasn't just me, Troy played a big part too" she said in between everyone rushing to say happy birthday and hug me. Before I knew it, the music was pumping, my Dad and Grandparents had kissed me and left saying they would be back tomorrow afternoon, but there was to be no alcohol and no boys staying over.

Finally free from crazy high school students who had now taken to the dance floor in the middle of my room, with a few sneaking in alcohol or had arrived drunk, I searched the room for Troy, finding him standing by himself watching on.

"Hey you" I smirked as I walked through a few girls to get to him

"Hey yourself, so you like?" He asked as he nodded to the party

"I love, thank you" I whispered taking his hand

"You look beautiful, Gabby said you'd like the dress" He smirked

"This was from you?" I asked as he nodded "and the shoes?" He smirked nodding again

"Well Gabby kinda helped me out with both if I'm honest" He shrugged shyly as I led him through to the backyard where it was quieter

"Thank you Troy, for everything this year" I said as we stood outside in the summer breeze

"Why? I like loving you" He smirked as he pulled me closer into him and begun to kiss me softly before kissing me more passionately as he run his hands through my hair. We finally pulled back for air staring at each other intently. Why did moments with him continue to be perfect?

"I like loving you too" I smirked back

"Good because there's something I want to give you" He replied as I nodded on curiously

"Close your eyes"

"Troy!" I huffed crossing my arms

"Taylor!" He replied in the same manner making us both laugh as I finally closed my eyes

He gently took my hand as I felt him slip something cold onto my wrist, I shivered at the touch

"Okay now you can open them" He ordered as I smiled excited

"Oh..." I murmured as stared at my wrist that currently housed a simple silver bracelet, it looked perfect, with the three diamond in had in the middle.

"Turn it over" He smiled as I nodded and turned the delicate bracelet over

"'Taylor. M, Where My Heart Is, Troy. B'" I smiled as I read it out loud "Troy..."

"No Taylor, It's true. You are where my heart is... whether that's in Stanford or Yale or Paris, just remember that wherever you go you're taking my heart with you. You feel like home to me... and that's why I'm coming to Berkeley for college next year" He finished smiling

"What! Oh my... but your Dad? Your scholarship at U of A!"

"I don't care, it doesn't matter my Dad will get over it... I don't know how to make it clear to you how much I want us to be together and we're graduating in a month and then it's summer and college and a couple of months together just isn't enough before we have to separate. I don't feel like I can ever leave you... ever... and if Berkeley is the closest I'll get to you then I'm going to Berkeley." He stated confidently "I'm coming with you"

"But Troy, you can't do that, it's your future... have you thought about this?" as much as I wanted to jump and down and be happy about what he was saying, I couldn't do it. I'd feel selfish, neither of us knew what the future held, we might break up before college or during college or after college! We weren't guaranteed forever as much as I wanted it to be forever. I couldn't let him take that risk especially because I knew just how much him and Chad adored playing basketball.

"It's all I've been thinking about since prom! Taylor I don't know what the future holds and I don't know if we'll be together in ten years time... but I don't care. I want to be with you alone, I know that I love you A LOT, I know that for sure and I know I didn't wait eight months for us to be together to spend a couple months together and then separate and see each other every break or whatever. At least if I'm in Berkeley we can say we tried to make this work and if it doesn't then I'll walk away if my heart will let me. But until then I will do whatever it takes to be with you. Besides Berkeley is a really good med. School and I can still play basketball there. The best part is you'll be exactly 31 miles away from me so I can come up and see you every weekend and versa visa. I just love you too much to be just a high school love." He finished staring seriously into my eyes, I knew then and there he meant every last syllable of what he'd just said.

"Troy... I love you too... oh forget it! YES YES YES!! I didn't want to think about having to leave you this summer either so thank you! Thank you for the bracelet, the dress, the shoes, and the party and for your heart. I promise to look after it always as long as I have it. I just can't believe you'd that... for me. I really can't explain how I feel, just know that you have every part of me and well it looks like we're with each other for quite a while" I smiled biting back tears and any inhibitions I had inside, if he was willing to take the risk then so was I.

"Come on, it's your party and you haven't even danced yet" He smiled as he led me back inside. If only he knew that I didn't need to dance when I was with him, I didn't need anything, just him. The boy who was willing to run to the west coast for without asking for anything in return. He didn't need any guarantees that's we'd be together in ten years time or any promise that I'd love him alone, even though I planned to, but he didn't ask me to. He just wanted to fight for our relationship like he'd been doing for the last eight months. He just wanted to fight for us. I loved this boy.


	15. Love's Fool

Thank you SO much for all your reviews, I'm really glad you're enjoying the story, it's coming to a close soon, so read and review!

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That was seven months ago, I guess you could say during those seven months I lived in perfection. Troy and I graduated from high school together and spent the whole summer together, like literally. We managed to convince the manager of footlocker to give us both a job there and even though sometimes we didn't always work the same hours most of the time we did. We went on mini road trips to the beach when we had days off sometimes with Gabby and Chad and sometimes without. Zeke and Sharpay were on holiday together in the Bahamas, I don't know how that girl managed to wrap her Dad around her little finger but what she said, her father did. It was ridiculous.

That summer I have to say was the best summer of my life, I often sit in my the dorm room I share with Gabby at Stanford reminiscing about that summer, especially since I don't see him until the weekend, him and Chad both went to Berkeley, Chad majored in business and physiotherapy. They shared an apartment near their college. Everyone we told thought our relationships we were cute, I guess they were until 'it' happened.

This is how I remember it, bearing in mind I'm telling the story two and a half years on from when this happened. Troy of course still protests to me bringing up this memory but hey! I'm telling the story of us now, so I guess what he thinks really doesn't count at this point. So here goes...

_Two and a half years ago..._

_It was the weekend before college broke up for Christmas vacation, it was also Gabby and I's turn to drive up to Berkeley and visit the boys. We'd all said we'd drive back to Albuquerque the following Monday for Christmas, cause then we'd have enough time to catch up with Zeke and Shar before the crazy Christmas rush happened in our own families. Gabby's mum and her we're spending Christmas with Chad's family seeing as their family was scattered between the Philippines, Spain and Mexico; she'd usually spend it with us but Chad and her had a huge announcement to make to everyone, they were officially engaged. He'd asked her last weekend over a romantic diner in town when the boys had driven down. She was hoping to marry in the summer and so we'd started making a few plans, nothing major because we knew her mum would want to be heavily involved._

_I'd come up with the idea of driving up on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning like we usually did because neither Gabby or I had evening classes that Friday due the upcoming Christmas break. We were excited about surprising them and just hoped they'd be in their dorm or we'd be camping outside and the surprise would be ruined... well kind of. I also wanted to surprise Troy because we'd had a small argument last weekend about me not making enough for him, but that weekend was really busy for me with having to balance my Job at a local cafe who had asked me to do extra shifts that weekend due to a staff shortage, making sure I had assignments in on time and then of course Troy. It's safe to say it was a crazy weekend but for some reason Troy wasn't being as supportive as usual, he became really possessive when he found out Tye was my partner and I'd had to meet him to work on this project on the Saturday that Troy was over. I thought Troy would rather I was partnered with someone I'd known for years, rather than a stranger. So yeah we had a big bust up about that and I felt guilty seeing as he hadn't called me and I hadn't called him all week, but it was me and Troy we argued about everything. They were never serious arguments and we always, always made up._

_So yeah Gabby and I had just arrived at the boy's college and we're so excited to surprise them, I wasn't even nervous that Troy and I hadn't spoken, arguing was what we did best, plus it gave me practice for all my future court cases seeing as nine times out of ten I won our arguments._

"_D'ya think they'll be in Tay?" Gabby asked as she parked her car, _

"_Let's hope so I mean it's nearly ten so they should be in from classes now right" I shrugged as I hopped out_

"_Guess so, let's go find out!" She clapped excitedly as she pulled out the mini picnic basket we'd packed so we could have diner on the living room floor._

_We walked up and rang the door bell waiting patiently for someone to answer, we heard the footsteps to the door and let out a sigh of relief knowing someone was in._

"_Surprise!" We screamed as soon as the door was wide enough for us to see Chad standing there in his sweatpants, Gabby immediately jumped into his arms as I squeezed past the two love birds to find Troy._

_I run to his room when I saw he wasn't in the kitchen or living room and pushed the door open but found nothing. I returned to the kitchen where Chad and Gabby to see if Chad knew where his lunkhead best friend was._

"_C where's Troy?" I asked curious_

"_Erm... I don't really know probably still in library or something, that fight you had has been messing with him all week and he's been up late doing assignments, even his basketball has been off in practice" He shrugged before smirking "So what you can't show big C no love?" He questioned as I rolled my eyes and walked over to give him a hug_

"_You're so annoying! Well I'm just gonna drive over to the library and surprise him there coz I'm not being the third wheel in you two's little reunion, you guys better not eat all the food!" I smirked as I grabbed Gabby's car keys from the counter and made my way out._

_I smiled when I turned on the radio to find it playing 'I'm Yours'- Jason Mraz. Troy didn't like it very much however I thought it was the best song to come out in a while and it was the song we danced to at the beach. We had my Ipod in its speakers and when this song came on I made Troy dance with me even though he protested through the whole song. Soon I dubbed it our song and made him put it as my ring tone, previously he had 'Best I ever Had' by Drake as my ringtone but I didn't really like that song._

_I had just parked up in front of the college library was so excited to see his face when he saw me, I got out of the car quickly and smiled when I saw his car and this other pink car we're the only ones parked here. I felt so proud that my boyfriend had a brain in his head. I was walking up the entrance when I saw him coming out and smiling with another girl. She was tall and slim with long dark brown hair and tanned skin. I smiled at how good he looked in the sweater I'd got him earlier this year and was kept approaching him, I was about to yell out his name because he had his back to me when I saw her lean in. I was about a meter away from them, her hand went through his hair the way I liked to go through his hair when we kissed, I stood there waiting for him to push her away and tell her he had a girlfriend, I stood there waiting for it to happen but it didn't instead he kissed her back, like it's what they always did. Still I stood there watching on in shock; pain filling my body yet not a muscle in me was able to move me from the spot that was hurting my heart. It was like I was trying to make sure it was all a bad dream, one big nightmare but it wasn't, it was real and it was happening. _

_They pulled apart and she whispered something in his ear before he said no, he had to get home and she walked away in the opposite direction, telling him it was his loss and she'd catch up with him after Christmas break. He didn't reply, instead he just turned around and found me. Tears staining my cheeks, unable to talk, frozen._

"_Taylor" He whispered obviously just as shocked as I was_

"_I... I... I'm going" I managed to spit out before running to my car and speeding off, he didn't call after me or even try to stop me. I guess the shock was still sinking in._

_I didn't drive back to their apartment; it was unfair for me to ruin Chad and Gabby's night in because I had an unfaithful boyfriend so I drove around for a while. Thinking, crying sometimes laughing for even imagining Troy and I happily married after college. How naive of me to believe we'd make it that far, I mean we were lucky we'd made it this far I guess. I cursed myself over and over for believing his lies and promises of forever. They were now nothing but a distant memory of false hope. Nothing more than lies._

_It was almost an hour and my phone had been ringing for the last half an hour, I'm guessing Troy had got back and told Gabby what happened because she had called me every minute literally for the thirty minutes. I decided to give Gabby a break and text her to let her know I was on my way back now._

_I arrived at the apartment twenty minutes later, I didn't want to see him or speak to him or breathe near him, my plan was simply to crash there for one night and then I'd drive back to Albuquerque in Gabby's car, I'm sure she was going to drive up with Chad anyway. I knocked on the door and waited until Gabby answered and quickly pulled me into a hug which only made me want to cry even more but I held on._

"_I'm fine G, I just want to sleep then I'll head back home tomorrow morning" I replied as I gently pushed her away and walked further into the apartment. She stayed silent and slowly followed behind me._

"_Where is he?" I asked as she nodded to the kitchen, I sighed as walked in there to find him pitifully sat on a stool staring into space. It looked like he may have cried but then again maybe that was just my wishful thinking_

"_Taylor..." He started as soon as I entered the kitchen; I stayed silent and looked at him blankly as he got up to approach me_

"_No Troy, don't come any closer, I'm only here for tonight cause it's too late to stay anywhere else but I'm driving back home tomorrow morning..." I paused "alone. We're over" I finished calmly as I turned to leave; he knew this wasn't the best time to start any type of conversation with so he didn't protest. I showered and got changed into my pyjamas and went into the spare room that Gabby and I shared whenever we stayed here, got into bed and fell asleep before Gabby got out of the shower and tried to talk to me about it. There was nothing to talk about, he kissed a girl that wasn't me and it was over. There was no going back after that. I didn't cry myself to sleep, I just slept, I felt empty inside like someone had just ripped out my soul. It was possible they had._

_The next morning came much quicker than I'd hoped it would, I woke up hoping last night was just a bad dream but as soon as I saw breakfast on my side table from Gabby I knew it wasn't. She had never made me breakfast in bed, so I knew last night was as real as it gets._

"_Morning Tay" She whispered as she popped her head into the door_

"_Hey G" I said managing to smile back, I took a sip of my orange juice_

"_It put our bags in the car" she smiled sitting on the edge of our bed "I thought you'd want to leave as soon as possible, so everything's set for our departure" she smiled_

"_Thanks, but you don't have to come I know you and Chad had plans"_

"_No way Mckessie! I'll see Chad when him and Troy drive down on Monday... anyway someone had to make sure you get back home safe and save you from crazy pay" she winked as I smirked, she was right about Sharpay_

"_You don't have to, I swear I'll be fine"_

"_And what kind of best friend would that make me if I let you go back home alone after finding out your man cheat..." she stopped quickly placing a hand over her mouth when she saw the pained expression on my face. Tears quickly rushed to my eyes and spilled out, it hit me again that Troy had cheated on me_

"_Taylor, I'm so sorry" She said as she wrapped her arms around me letting me sob into her shoulder. I cried for a few more minutes before sighing and pulling myself together_

"_It's not your fault Troy cheated G, It's mine for not seeing him for who he was fifteen months ago when I had to do that stupid cursed project with him. It's my fault for not listening to my Dad and it;s my fault for loving him so much" I stated simply as I wiped away my tears and got up _

"_Taylor, none of that is true, we both know that okay, none of it." She replied as she followed me around the room with her eyes. I grabbed my towel and shrugged off what she said hearing her sigh as I left the room_

"_Hey Tay" Chad said pulling me into a hug as he walked out of the toilet, my arms stayed limp by my sides as I accepted his embrace._

"_I need to shower" I told Chad blankly before he had a chance to apologise for his friend, he nodded and sighed before stepping out the way to let me through_

_I cried as the warm water poured over my body, I cried as I washed my hair, I cried as I dried myself down with my towel. Then I stopped crying and exited the shower, I put on the clothes Gabby had left out for me and went to the kitchen to get some water. I didn't anticipate on finding him there_

"_Taylor, can we talk?" He asked nervously as I walked past him to grab a water bottle from the fridge_

"_No" I whispered before turning to leave, he grabbed my arm and forced me to face him, my eyes flickering from side to side to avoid his eyes. I didn't want to look at him_

"_Taylor listen to me, it was one kiss and it meant nothing, I swear" He started as I shook my head trying to blank out his words "Taylor listen to me please, I'm begging you, don't do this to us please," He begged trying to make eye contact with me but I refused, fixing my eyes on the floor. I could tell by the sound of his voice he wanted to cry, it was shaking and the only time he'd cried was that night at prom when he begged me to wait for him. I wasn't going to listen to my heart this time; I was going to listen to my head. It was telling me to go and that's exactly what I was going to do, leave._

"_I didn't do anything to us Troy" I replied coldly finally looking up at him "You did, now let me go"_

"_Not until you listen to me, Taylor, I made a mistake but I stopped it before it went any further I swear, It wasn't going to go further, as soon as it happened I regretted it" He pleaded looking into my eyes trying to find reason in me_

"_It went far enough Troy" I replied in the same cold manner_

"_I know baby, I know and I'm sorry" He replied finally letting the tears falls from his eyes "please just don't leave me, please I promise I'll make it up to you" He pleaded "I love you and only you, please I'm sorry"_

"_Troy don't do this please just let me go" I said grabbing his hand from my arm and placing the bracelet he gave me on my eighteenth into his hand. It was the first time, except for when I showered that that bracelet had left my wrist. It was never going back there again, ever._

"_No Taylor, don't do this, don't throw us away, this is your bracelet it belongs to you" He said trying to shove back into my hand_

"_Not anymore" I whispered finding it hard to belief that this was happening to us. He finally loosened his grip and let me slip away. I looked up one last time to find his broken, tear stained face and had to fight with everything inside of me not to wipe those tears away and say its okay. Then I walked away, I walked away from him and I walked away from us._

_I quickly wiped away my tears and left the house with Gabby, she decided it was best if she drove and we pulled away from them. At least I had a few days to get myself together before I had to see him again. I fell asleep on the drive home leaving Gabby with only the radio for company. I woke up ten hours later to Gabby singing along to one of her rock songs, she secretly enjoyed. We'd pulled into my drive and I had never been so happy to be home. I didn't see my Dad's car in the drive and figured he was working late, then I remembered he was away this weekend and that's why we'd planned on arriving back on Monday because my Dad was back Tuesday night._

"_Sorry I wasn't much company" I smiled sympathetically at Gabby as we got out of the car and got our bags out._

"_It's cool, I understand... hey why don't we call Sharpay to come over and we can have a sleep over" she smiled "like back in high school" I nodded agreeing that I needed cheering up and crazy pay was the one for the job._

"_Good because I called her when we left Berkeley, she should be here any minute" Gabby replied smiling as I unlocked the door and let us in. _

_We changed into some sweats and tank top and ten minutes later Sharpay burst through the door using my spare key._

"_Girlies" she called as we rushed downstairs to hug her. Once the dramatic reunion had taken place, we all settled down in the living room with a tub of chocolate ice cream between us. We'd been talking about how great life at university was and catching up on anything new that had happened. Sharpay cooed over Gabby's engagement ring and told us about her and Zeke's plans to move together in an apartment after Christmas break. Finally we came to the subject I was dreading the most, Troy. Shar knew because Gabby had saved me the trouble of telling her, when she talked to her earlier this morning_

"_Taylor, can we please talk about you and Troy now" Shar sensitively asked as my phone went off for the hundredth time that night, it was Troy again. I groaned and switched it off before throwing it across the room to the couch opposite us. I could feel my two friend exchange worried looks_

"_No, we can't and we will never talk about him ever again okay. Troy means nothing to me anymore" I replied bitterly looking ahead as I heard Shar sigh_

"_No, Taylor as your friend, I'm not going to let you do this! I know you still love him and he loves you so don't make any decision until you've heard him out" Shar said rubbing my arm_

"_I don't need to hear anyone out I saw it for myself okay" I quickly replied_

"_But Taylor... it's Troy if you guys break up there's no hope for the rest of us!" She exclaimed as I smirked_

"_Well maybe there is no hope, blame him he's the one who ruined it all!" I snapped back bitterly trying to fight back tears, every time I closed my eyes, I saw him and her kissing and him not pushing her away. Every time._

"_But Tay don't you remember you guys this summer, the chocolates, the poems, the letter, the beach escapes. The cheesy ways he told you he loved you, your speech at graduation, the job at footlocker, the picnic in his place of peace..." Sharpay continued, each memory tearing me apart as she listed them. _

_Why was I one of those girls that told her best friends everything! I made a mental never to do that again. The letters, I remembered the letters he wrote me over summer, not because he went away just because he found it easier to write what he felt than say it sometimes. I had those ten letters in a box under my bed, along with the cards he'd given whenever he felt like getting me a card. Troy was spontaneous, he never usually had a just reason for giving me things, if he saw something he thought I'd like or something that reminded me of him he'd just get it for me, sometimes he said, he just had the urge to buy me a card and he would. Then there was his sometimes awful and sometimes good poetry, good or bad I loved it. The first poem he wrote me was because he'd searched all my favourite poets and apparently none of them described quite how he felt at that moment so he wrote it out for me. It sucked, big time but I never told him that, I kept it and thought about how much time he must have spent writing it and just how sweet of him it was to write it. The poems gradually got better after that._

"_Stop Shar! Just stop it!" I shouted getting up "I need you guys to support me on this not remind me about what I've lost!" I said looking at both of them "I need you to support me"_

"_Well I can't, not if I think you're making a big mistake!" Shar replied_

"_I'm with Shar on this, I know what he did is wrong, very wrong and if it was any other boy I would have told you to dump him but this Troy Tay, your Troy. The boy who loved you more than life itself, don't completely rule him off until you've spoken to him properly, until you know his side" Gabby added_

"_Fine. But that doesn't mean I'm changing my mind!" I replied annoyed "where's my phone?" I asked looking around and spotting it where I'd thrown it._

_I quickly turned it back on and saw the fifty missed calls and twenty five voice mails from him, I sighed as I dialled his number._

"_Taylor" He sighed into the phone_

"_Come to Albuquerque now, we need to talk" I said into the phone before shutting it_

"_Happy?" I asked the two shocked girls on the couch_

"_Tay, when we said talk... we didn't mean like right now" Shar said slowly_

"_Yeah well you know me, I like to get things done as soon as possible" I shrugged sitting back on the couch with them. I was going to hear what that no good, cheating jerk had to say but I had made my mind up, Troy and I were over and that was final. I was doing this to get them off my back and that was the only reason._


	16. Love's Fool Part 2

So where was I, right I had just called Troy to come to Albuquerque so I could clear up the fact we're still over...

"_okay well now that you two have what you want, I'm going to bed because Chad and Troy probably won't be here till tomorrow or something" I said turning to leave the room to leave the stunned girls on the couch. I know I was acting irrational and crazy but I had every right to be crazy right now. As I was walking up the stairs I heard the bell ring. I quickly made my way back down stairs cursing whoever it was that would dare to turn up at my house uninvited in the middle of the night_

"_Ugh!" I grumbled as I unlocked my front door "Troy..." I managed to let out as I saw him and Chad standing at my doorstep_

"_You told me to come" He mumbled rubbing the back of his neck, I did do that didn't I_

"_Come in" I mumbled stepping aside as to let the two visibly exhausted boys. Chad walked through to the living room leaving me and Troy in the hall. We stood in silence for a while until he spoke_

"_I drove down after you left this morning" He mumbled which explained why he'd got here just five minutes after I phoned him_

"_oh" I replied looking at him nervously, oh? Taylor Mckessie is that the best you can do? You should be putting him through hell for what he did not coming out with stupid things like oh? Why would you let words fail you at this very moment in time._

"_Taylor..." He said walking to towards me and stopping when he saw me back up _

"_No Troy... I don't wanna hear that you're sorry. I just want to know why!" I replied sternly finally finding my voice, that was more like it Tay, don't let those blue eyes fool you, he was still the same boy you found with his tongue down some girls throat._

"_Taylor don't do this" He said shaking his head as the anger of the memory started building up inside me. I started pacing the hall trying to keep myself from crying._

"_No TROY! Don't Taylor me! I WANT TO KNOW WHY!" I shouted as he flinched _

"_But that's not going to help you or us! It was a mistake Taylor, a big mistake!" He replied, I could tell he was trying to keep himself from raising his voice_

"_DAMN RIGHT IT WAS A MISTAKE! Now tell me why" I finished through clenched teeth, I could tell I was going to cry sometime soon, but I'd be damned if he saw a single tear fall from my eyes today_

"_Tay..." He started _

"_WHY!" I replied in the same hostile manner, stopping right in front of him "why troy" I asked more softly_

"_I don't know" he whispered sighing "I don't know..."_

"_Well it's not good enough!" I replied clenching my fist to stop my hand from shaking, I went and sat on the second stair, letting my head fall into my hands_

"_Did you sleep with her?" I whispered not really wanting to know the answer, but knowing I had to ask_

"_What? Why would you ask that?" He asked looking offended but still not answering my question_

"_Answer the question Troy!" I repeated looking at him_

"_No Taylor, I didn't sleep with her!" I replied kneeling down in front of me "I couldn't do that to you" he whispered taking my hand against my will_

"_No, you just kissed her" I replied bitterly snatching my hand away "how many times?"_

"_Taylor why are you doing this to yourself, I can see it's just you hurting more"_

"_No Troy. You hurt me, this... this is nothing compared to how I felt last night... nothing" I replied closing my eyes so the tears wouldn't fall. I took a deep breathe_

"_Once..." He said as I looked at him puzzled "that was the only time I kissed her" He sighed as I nodded reliving the memory of last night in my head. Then the tears started, they fell, they kept on falling and wouldn't stop no matter how many times I told them not to, no matter how much I longed for self-control I couldn't find it in myself. There he was kissing another girl, a prettier, taller, slimmer girl._

"_But...y... you d...didn't even push her away Troy" I stuttered through the tears, pushing him away when he tried to hug me "Troy don't please" I asked shaking my head and furiously wiping at my face_

"_You didn't tell her you had a girlfriend Troy" I paused finding my composure, "I saw everything, you laughed and joked like friends did and I didn't think anything of it, then she kissed you and you kissed her back! Troy you kissed her back" I sighed _

"_I know Taylor..." He sighed sitting on the step next to me "But that's it, as soon as I did I knew it was wrong! All wrong, she didn't feel like you... because she wasn't you. She didn't make my heart skip a beat or leaving me lingering for more when she finished. Because only you can do that, I swear it was one big mistake, one huge mistake that made me realise I will never love anyone like I love you. So please Taylor I'm begging you don't leave me, please don't leave me" He said taking my hand in his as I looked at him_

"_Troy, I don't know. I need to know that after every fight we have you won't need to kiss another girl to remind you that you love me" I sighed cursing myself for even beginning to reason with him "It was one stupid fight Troy. We fight all the time, it's what we do but I wouldn't go and kiss another boy, ever!" I replied_

"_I know that Taylor, I swear I do but I don't know, I was just so angry all this week with you, with me and how I'd left things... and you and Tye and we both know he doesn't like me Tay, he wants you for himself Tay can't you see that? And the worst thing is I know he's a better man for you, he's everything you've ever dreamed of, smart, ambitious, Christian" He sighed looking into my eyes,_

"_But Troy he isn't the one I loved, I loved you! You're smart and ambitious and even if you aren't Christian you still make the effort to come to church with me. You're the one who fought for me and you're the one I wanted, I didn't want Tye. I never will and anyway he has a girlfriend now so I doubt he wants me now either" I explained softening towards him _

"_I'm sorry Tay... can we please try again, don't throw us away" He begged_

"_I...I... I don't know Troy, I mean since we started all we've done is fight for our relationship, it's like one hurdle after another, maybe we aren't supposed to be together, maybe this is just fate telling us it's over" I sighed, not really meaning what I said _

"_No Taylor you can't say that" He replied getting up "Maybe you just want out! I was always the one fighting for us, trying to convince you that we were meant to be together! I was the one who waited for you! Well you know what Taylor, now you have an excuse to walk away! You have what you always wanted so go on Tay LEAVE ME!" He shouted throwing arms up with his chest heaving up and down like he was finding it hard to breathe, his words felt like a big slap in the face as I got up taking in what he just said._

_I slowly approached him, there were no words on this earth that could even begin to describe how angry I was at him at that split second, no words in the whole universe, except maybe a few curse word but I had morals!_

"_How dare you try and turn this around Troy!" I asked fuming "How dare you! Who asked you to wait! And who the heck asked you to go to Berkeley because I know it wasn't me!" I continued pushing him against the wall "I never asked you for anything so if you feel like this 'relationship' was a mistake then why on earth are you here! Gosh how could I be so stupid! You almost had me going there" I laughed as tears fell down my cheeks "almost had me reconsidering my decision, maybe you were hasty Tay! Maybe you should give him another chance! Maybe he really did love you!" I continued hitting his chest at every word "Maybe he loved you!" I sobbed looking up at him as I grabbed hold his shirt_

"_I do Taylor, you know I do! I didn't mean what I said, I was just so mad that you didn't want to consider giving us another chance, did I really mean so little to you?" He whispered lifting up my chin_

"_That's the problem, you meant everything" I choked back _

"_You still are everything to me" He replied as I shook my head no_

"_I think you should leave Troy, I need time to think about this" I said letting go his shirt slowly "I need time" I replied as he nodded_

"_I'll call you tomorrow" He said cautiously as I looked at him and sighed_

"_fine" I shrugged as he opened the door and left looking back one last time. I sighed and ran upstairs before I could be ambushed by Gabby and Sharpay who I knew had been listening at the door. I locked my door and fell on top of my bed, looking around my old room. The picture that Sharpay had taken of Troy and I was still by my bed, we looked happy then and that was before we even knew we were in love. He was playing with my hair on the school lawn, staring longingly down at me; I was smiling back up at him from his lap. I remember that day, it was during our project. _

_I looked across at my computer to find his old Wild cat jacket on my computer chair; he'd given it to me in the summer, after it started raining at the beach and I refused to give it back all summer. I wondered if it still smelt of him I thought but not having the energy to get up and check. Then I remembered the box of letters, cards and everything else from the summer, under my bed. I got off my bed and slide my hands underneath it, looking for the box, after five minutes of searching I found the dusty shoe box. _

_Sitting cross legged leaning against my bed, I brushed the dust off the lid of the box and sighed before opening it up. There lay the letters, the poems, the cards, the little bracelets we'd made when I made him attend an art and crafts workshop with me during the summer. I picked up a blue envelope and pulled out the small card inside. It was a small white card with three purple stripes at the bottom that he'd seen once in a store when he was with his Dad. He said it reminded him of the dress I wore once when we went to the beach. I opened it and inside it read _

'_Hey Tay,_

_I missed you... as usual. This card reminds me of the dress you wore at the beach last weekend; you looked beautiful... as usual. I just wanted to let you know, I was thinking of you._

_I love you forever Tay. _

_Troy'_

_I smiled, it was so simply but it was perfect, he'd left it in my locker at the footlocker changing rooms and I remember finding it after a hard day of difficult customers and all I wanted to do was go home and sleep. I quickly put it back in the box. Then I saw the purple card, the very first card he'd ever given me with the poem from Pablo Neruda on the day before my eighteenth, I smiled reliving the happiness that lay in my heart that day. Then I opened a letter, my very first letter he'd ever given me, the day after my eighteenth. It said everything he wanted to say that night that he just couldn't say._

'_Dear Taylor,_

_I wanted to tell you this last night but I couldn't find the words, maybe you already know what I'm going to say Taylor but I need to say it. I love you being in my life, I can't even begin to describe how happy you seem to make me. You annoy me so much, always telling me to get my work done on time, but I secretly love making you nag at me like you do. You drive me crazy with your need to analyse everything, including me because someday I'm scared you'll finally realise how unworthy I am of you. So I'm letting you know now, I'm not worthy to love you or even have you love me back but I can't help it that I'm addicted to you and I refuse to lose the best thing in my life right now. I have never ever tried to keep something so hard, but these eight months showed me that I'm ready and willing to do whatever it takes to keep your love... for the rest of my life. Taylor you are my forever, and I know we're young but I know, I know that there is no way on this earth that I could possibly live without your love. No way._

_I just want you to know I love you; I love you more than life, more than basketball and definitely more than I love myself. I hope you never forget that even if I do something to screw it up, please don't give up on me._

_Forever yours,_

_Troy._

_He was such an idiot, but he was my idiot and I'd be damned if I let some hoochy get her paws on my rightful property. That's right I was ready to go get my Troy but I'd let him sweat it out a bit until tomorrow, I smirked at the thought. Yeah, everyone was right and I was... dare I say it, wrong. Troy and I belonged together, forever. Suddenly every doubt I had disappeared, it was one kiss and it meant nothing right? Our love could overcome this, and anyway it didn't look like much of a choice, I loved him too much and knowing him he definitely wasn't going to let me go without a fight. _


	17. Love Isnt Hard

**Thanks for the reviews guys! So I'm in Switzerland right now and the keyboard is like completely different on my aunt's laptop so please excuse any spelling mistakes, also I definitely won't be updating as often as I did however the story is like nearly fi****nished probs about five more chapters tops but I'll and update as often as I can. Here's the next chapter r&r thanx**

Right so where was I? It was the morning after the night before…

_Troy. Troy. Troy. _

_That was as complex as my though process went that morning, I wanted so bad to be able to say I don't love you anymore nor do I want to see you again, but as usual with that boy my heart wouldn't let me. So now regardless of what my head said to me, with all the logic it held nothing and I mean nothing could and would take my heart away from his. I prayed that night and I mean truly prayed that I wasn't making the wrong decision by giving us another chance. Morning came much too quickly._

"_WAKE UP!" Sharpay called from the other side of the door, I was awake I just didn't want to face crazy pay and Gabby yet especially seeing as __they still hadn't grilled me about the conversation which I knew they both heard._

"_I'm awake pay!" I replied as I went to unlock the door_

"_Good afternoon Taylor!" She said sarcastically as she looked me up and down and realized I had showered and was fully dressed, her and Gabby pushed past me placed the tray of breakfast by my bed before jumping on it._

"_So Troy's been calling the house for the past hour Tay, stop torturing the poor boy!" Gabby said getting comfortable with my pink pillow, they didn't waste much time_

"_So now I'm torturing him! He's the one that kissed a girl!" I replied rolling my eyes and getting comfortable in the love seat_

"_C'mon Tay…" Shar whispered as she exchanged looks with Gabby_

"_Ugh! Whatever guys this is between me and Troy okay" I said sipping on my orange juice and shrugging it off, I really wasn't in the mood to get into it with those two_

"_Yeah but we're your friends, we're trying to make sure you don't make a big mistake" Gabby said sincerely_

"_You guys have been saying that since last night… you forget it's my life okay and if I make a few bad decisions then so be it but trust me this is not one of them okay" I replied sternly and thanked Troy for calling when he did so that we could end that conversation. I got up to answer my phone, _

"_Hey" I whispered into the phone as Gabby and Sharpay looked at me curiously_

"_Hey" He replied, I started fiddling with the objects on my dressing table_

"_how are you?" I asked softening slightly toward how nervous he sounded when he'd said hello_

"_I'm okay" He paused "How are you?" Knowing that's not what he wanted to ask_

"_I'm okay" I paused as I fiddled with the earring on the table "so erm you wanna come over?" I finally asked _

"_sure I'll there in five" I quickly hung up the phone first._

"_So was that Troy?" Gabby asked hopefully_

"_No it was Tye" I replied nonchalantly turning to face there shocked expressions, you know I had to mess with them_

"_WHAT!" they both exclaimed at__ the same time, _

"_It's was Troy fools!" I giggled ducking the pillow as Sharpay threw__ at me_

"_So are you two gonna sort everything out?" Shar asked as I shrugged and brushed my hair, before applying some lip balm_

"_I'll tell you when you guys get back from shopping, or seeing your men or whatever it is you're going to do that is not going to be in my house" I smirked watching Sharpay's jaw drop through the mirror_

"_What! But we're gonna miss all the action!" She complained _

"_Get out of my house heffa!" I laughed as Gabby dragged her out of the room and downstairs followed by me because I knew Troy would be here any minute_

"_Well atleast call us or something" Shar huffed as she grabbed her coat and I nodded before opening the door where Troy was about to knock_

"_Bye Troy" They both chimed before looking back at me to and mining to call them. I shook my__ head at them before slowly returning my gaze to Troy who was still standing outside my house in his skinny jeans and white shirt looking as good as ever. I sometimes wonder if I would take him back if he didn't look as good as he did but that thought stays between me and you_

"_Gosh, those two are a hot mess" I smirked looking up at him before see__ing the serious look on his face, his usually bright blue eyes were that dark blue that I hated seeing on his face_

"_erm come in" I said nervously as he nodded and walked into the hall__, we stood there apprehensively for a few minutes before I led us to the living room. He sat on the couch opposite mine and stared at me intently before talking, _

"_So have you thought about everything Tay?" he questioned__ as he leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at me, I looked at him for a moment before looking away and playing with my fingers, I knew I'd made a decision about everything last night but now it didn't feel so right_

"_You don't beat around the bush huh?" I replied, trying to hold off the subject for a few more moments so I could get my thoughts together_

"_C'mon Tay__… you're killing me here, I just want to know where we stand" He sighed rubbing a hand over his face, _

"_I'm not sure what to tell you Troy" I started as he nodded as though he understood, he really had no idea_

"_Well how do you feel about us?" He asked like it was that simple, he already knew that I loved him so the point in that question was? I answered him anyway_

"_I… I… don't know, I love you Troy that much is clear" I saw a smile creep up on his face_

"_But, you kissed someone else a__nd I really don't know if I'll get over that anytime soon or in fact ever" I sighed as he frowned_

"_I know and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry and if you give me the chance I swear I'll make it up to you" He pleaded_

"_I don't doubt you will but memories aren't easy to erase Troy, that's what bugging me. I've forgiven you but I can't forget it and what if we try again and my memory makes sure we never move past it. Regardless of where what happens to us as a couple I still want to keep our friendship, I'm not ready to completely erase you from my life and I don't want to completely lose you as a friend because I can't let go of your mistake" I sighed telling him the truth_

"_Tay we can try… you know we can…" He replied beginning to argue with me before I'd finished_

"_If you let me finish… I was going to say I'd always wonder about us if I didn't give us the chance to try and frankly I can't live my life with 'what ifs ', life's too short to wonder, you taught me that… so I'm gonna give us a chance to fight for whatever it is that's left of this relationship" I smirked as his face lit up once again_

"_really?" He asked as I nodded furiously__ certain that I'd made the right decision now that I'd voiced it_

"_I'm not ready to let go of us yet but I swear Troy if you so much as dream kiss another girl, it's over" I smirked as he rushed over and tackled me into a big bear hug while I giggled_

"_Oh you have no idea how happy I am to hear that" he smiled as__ he swiftly placed me on his lap "you won't regret it I swear Taylor" He smiled_

"_I better not __Bolton" I smirked _

"_dream kiss" He questioned raising one of his eyebrows in a mocking manner_

"_what?" I exclaimed laughing as I leaned down to kiss his the Cheshire cat grin plastered on his face_

"_I__ missed those kisses" He smiled leaning his forehead on mine, "I'm sorry I made you cry" He continued whilst stroking my cheek "I'm so sorry" I heard him whisper as he begun kissing my nose and then my forehead _

"_I know baby… I know let's just forget it and try to move on okay" I smiled as he nodded and returned to kissing my face._

_We sat there comfortably in each other's embrace for a while, silent most of the time something that Troy and I had always seemed comfortable in doing. Sometimes he'd whisper sweet nothings in my ear, other times he'd kiss around my face and neck and from time to time he'd squeeze me closer into his chest. The T.V. was on in the background probably on BET or MTV or something but neither of us were really watching it. Both of us were too lost in our own thoughts; happiness and uncertainty on my behalf. Happy because I was here with Troy again and uncertain because my head was calling me a fool for following my heart, but for once I'd sweep those uncertain thoughts away and just live for this moment. Who cares if I'd made the right decision or not, at this very moment I was the happiest I'd been all weekend. Time seemed still and this felt like where I was meant to be at this moment in time, my soul seemed to find Troy's as quickly as his found mine and it didn't look like either was ready or willing to let go so who was I to tell my soul different?_

"_Tay what you thinking about?" He asked pushing my hair out of my face_

"_nothi__ng… life… us" I giggled as I looked I tilted my head from his lap to meet his eyes _

"_so nothing huh?" He smirked _

"_nothing… "I smirked "do you really think we'll be together in ten years?" I asked as I finally pulled away from his embrace and sat cross legged facing him_

"_I want us to be, I can't be with anyone but you Taylor, we both know that but I can't predict the future either, the only thing I know is only death can separate me from you now" He replied looking into my eyes sincerely "why?"_

"_I don't know, my brains in overdrive I guess, but that was a grade A answer" I winked as he chuckled_

"_No babe it was the truth" He yawned and looked at his watch "damn it it's nearly seven already, I promised my Dad I'd go with him and his new girlfriend Christmas tree shopping at seven" He pouted_

"_Oh my gosh I completely forgot you were meeting her this holiday! Is she nice?" I questioned sitting up straight_

"_Yeah and she makes him happy so it's cool with me, Hey do you want to come with me?" He smirked_

"_I don't know, I'm not sure I want to invade Bolton family time" _

"_You are family Tay remember I'm gonna marry you one day" He smirked as I tried to hide the smile creeping up on my face "C'mon please, plus I only just got you back I don't really want to leave you yet" He smiled thinking his charm would win me over_

"_As much as I would love to say yes Troy I can't" I smirked as he pouted _

"_Why not?" He huffed in a Sharpay like manner which made me giggle_

"_Because I have plans that don't include you Bolton" I shrugged trying to be difficult, I had no plans we both knew that I just didn't want to be the reason he didn't hang out with his Dad. He grabbed my hand and pulled me roughly towards his end of the couch_

"_Troy!" I giggled falling into him as he kissed my temple and then my lips before slipping his tongue into my mouth and softly massaging my mouth with it, I slowly pulled away as he groaned disappointedly_

"_Tay c'mon" He moaned_

"_You have to go remember" I smirked flicking his nose "And I have plans, now c'mon" I laughed getting up and pulling him up with me as he continued to protest_

"_Baby c'mon, I can cancel with my Dad and we can invite the gang over or something, I don't care what we do as long as you're there c'mon I still miss you and I'm with you!" He dramatically exclaimed as I laughed at his antics_

"_No you promised your father, now go anyway you can just come back later if you miss me that much" I smiled leading him to the front door_

"_Fine I'll see you later on tonight I guess" he sighed and leaned down to kiss me passionately before I pulled away once again when he wasn't ready to_

"_You need to stop messing with me like that Tay" He smirked_

"_Yeah and you got a date with your Dad now go!" I laughed pushing him out of the door before he came up with yet another reason not to go "Bye bighead" I whispered leaning against my front door as he stood coyly on the other side smiling at me_

"_I love you__ Tay" He sighed before kissing me again and walking to his car, I watched him drive off into the dark pulling my sweater close to me as the winter wind started to sip through and closed the door when all I could see was the dust that his tires left behind. I wondered why or even how I loved that boy so much, I'm sure it was unnatural to love a human that much._

_That evening turned out to be more fun than I'd expected, the whole gang ended up chilling out at mine with Troy joining us an hour later, something we hadn't done since high school which thinking about it wasn't too long ago but you know what I m__ean. Sharpay of course kept us entertained with her stories of the drama in her college and all the cheerleading hoochies she'd had to fight off Zeke in the first week before they understood he was not single. Those two seemed to be enjoying their time together and looked just as in love as when we'd left them back here all those months ago. Chad and Gabby were of course happily engaged and were waiting until Christmas morning to break it to their parents that they were planning to get married this summer. Troy and I had finally got it together and spent the night in each other's eyes. One by one the couples begun to leave my house until it was just Troy and I left. We stayed up all night, well most of the night talking and laughing in my living room before finally falling asleep together on my couch in the early hours of the morning._

_I didn't see Troy for the next few days after that, My Dad returned a dad early on Monday the next day with my crazy Grandparents because he didn't like the idea of his eighteen going onto nineteen year old daughter being in that big old house by herself. He knew full well I wasn't going to be by myself but I think that's what scared him more, so then I spent the next few__ days doing last minute Christmas shopping with my Grandma or Gabby and Sharpay and so I didn't see Troy until Christmas eve when he surprised me to give me my gift on time for Christmas._

"_I come bearing gifts" he said as he leaned up against my front door with that cocky smirk on his face_

"_aren`t I lucky, I have my very own personal father Christmas" I replied rolling my eyes at the father Christmas hat he had on his head before stepping aside to let him in_

"_Is that sarcasm I detect in your tone Miss. Mckessie because you know __Father Christmas doesn't like sarcastic girls" He smirked as he took off his coat_

"_Well when Father Christmas gets here I'll be on my best behavior, but for my corny boyfriend I can be as naughty as I like" I winked closing the front door_

"_I like the way you think" He said leaning in to kiss me before being interrupted by my deluded Grandmother_

"_Is that my man Taylor baby?" she asked knowing full well It was him, I rolled my eyes and broke away from our almost kissing to his annoyance before leading him to meet my family in the next room_

"_C'mon, just say hi and then we can chill in my room okay" I said squeezing his hand as he nodded and quickly pecked my forehead before we headed inside the room. We sat there for a few moments with my family to be polite before I finally led Troy away from my man-eating Grandma and upstairs to my father's dismay but hey I was eighteen now he really couldn't stop me from having boys in my room._

"_Finally" He sighed as he pushed me onto my bed and climbed on top of me leaning down to gently kiss_

"_Hmmm" I moaned as I pulled away "I know you aint my present Bolton, so you better get off me and show me the goodies" I said rolling from under his arms as watching him fall on my bed frustrated_

"_Damn Tay, I don't see you properly in days and I can't even get a kiss" He moaned as I rolled my eyes and held out my hand_

"_I want my present troy" I huffed _

"_You're such a baby!" He complained as he handed me over the bag that was in his hand "I don't see what difference it'll make you can't open it till tomorrow anyway" He shrugged_

"_I know I just wanted it in my hands… now you can get your kiss" I chirpily replied placing the bag on the side of my bed and pushing Troy down on the bed getting on top of him positioning his body between my legs. I slowly bent down and kissed him passionately while his hands roamed my waist, finally satisfied that I'd given him a satisfying thank you, I gently pulled away and let myself lay next to him. He on the other hand had different ideas and decided to make my neck his next meal before then climbing on top of me and making himself very comfortable. He continued to feast on my neck as the soon innocent make out session slowly turned in to a very heated and passionate one and as much I as I was enjoying all this, I had to stop him because I knew where it was leading and that was somewhere I knew I wasn't ready for. Like I'd told you earlier I wasn't having sex until I was married… I just needed to tell him that now._

"_Troy stop" I moaned not really sounding like I meant it_

"_Tayy" He whined_

"_No seriously baby stop" I replied sternly gently pushing the now shirtless boy off from on top of me _

"_What's wrong?" He asked as he lay next to him clearly annoyed_

"_I just didn't want to go any further" I shrugged_

"_Tay we've going out now for practically more than a year if you count our unofficial official months and the furthest we've gone is kiss… I completely understand if you're not ready baby and I respect that but just let me know a round about how long will it be?" He smirked, he'd clearly decided this wasn't a serious topic of conversation from his nonchalant tone of voice, might as well follow suite I thought_

"_On my wedding night" I replied as his jaw dropped_

"_w…w….what?" He asked leaning up onto his shoulders_

"_Yep… c'mon babe why you even surprised when you know Gabby aint giving Chad any until their married, same rule applies to me and anyway I aint trying to look like no hypocritical Christian, I made a vowel to God and I intend to keep it" I replied getting up to get the small box from my dressing table_

"_Here it's my promise ring" sitting down next him I opened the small boy to reveal a small gold ring in the centre_

"_oh… ohkay… why don't you wear it?" He asked _

"_I used to but it's a bit too big so it used to always fall off and I didn't want to lose it… it's real gold my dad would kill me… so I just kept it in it's box and anyway I didn't plan on falling for super hot athlete Troy Bolton in my senior, didn't think I'd need to explain myself because I always thought I'd marry someone from church or someone Christian" I shrugged knowing it was the truth_

"_Oh erm okay… I guess we'll be waiting till our wedding night then" He smirked shocking me with his reply_

"_What?" I replied_

"_wedding night taylor… you can't have sex until you're married, I won't ever dream of even daring to try and make you compromise your beliefs so we're waiting… for a genius you sure are slow sometimes" He teased rolling his eyes playfully before swiftly looping one arm around my waist to pull me down to him_

"_Troy… you're a lil bit amazing you know that" I flicked his nose as I lay there on top of him_

"_I've been told… but only a lil bit?" He asked_

"_only a lil bit, we can't have your head getting bigger than it already is now can we" I teased pecking his lips as a smile grew on his face_

"_Well you're pretty amazing yourself Taylor" he smiled leaning up to peck my nose, I nodded and slowly settled myself down placing my head on the crook of his neck and taking in that scent I loved so much._

"_I love you Troy" I whispered into his neck, it's the first time I'd voiced it properly since the kissing incident nearly two weeks ago, I__ knew it hurt him every time he'd say it over the phone and I would respond with a simple 'bye baby' which in turn was followed by a disappointed sigh from his end of the phone. I just couldn't seem to say it and not because I didn't love him, I really did I just wasn't completely over the kiss thing not matter how hard I tried and I'm not saying I'm completely over it now but I just felt right saying it here and now and besides it was a step in the right direction, we both knew that._

"_I love you too Tay" He whispered into my hair "__way too much" He sighed, we lay there for a while in silence, I didn't know what he was thinking I'm not even sure he was thinking he was too busy curling my hair around his fingers. I on the other hand was looking over all that Troy and I had over come over this past year and a Half; the project, the promise, my father and now this kiss incident. I'm pretty sure our love was strong enough to fight anything else that came our way and I was willing and ready to personally educate any interfering chicken head that tried to ruin the slowly returning to perfect love we had accustomed. Real love isn't hard work, but fighting for your love is. _


	18. Merry Christmas

I'd just woke up to the sound of cheesy Christmas music playing through the house and groaned, unlike the days when I was younger and I'd be up at the start of dawn running down stairs down the hall to wake my parents up so I could go and get my presents, but like last year it wasn't the same without my mum. I rolled onto my side and out of my bed grabbed Troy's Wildcat jacket and snuck out of onto my balcony feeling the cold Christmas wind on my face I took a deep breath.

"Merry Christmas Taylor" I whispered to myself before climbing down my balcony and running to my car, I sped out of the drive and sped down the road that led to the cemetery. I looked at my watch, it was almost nine in the morning a few hours later than I'd hoped. Hopefully the cemetery was still empty.

I pulled up near the entrance and pulled Troy's jacket closer to me, the wind was seeping through my pajamas bottoms, and yep it wasn't my smartest idea not to change into at least a pair of jeans before I left. I quickly walked towards her grave, near the middle left of the cemetery, there she was 'Joanna Faye Mckessie, loving wife and mother 1967 to 2008'. I smiled and knelt onto my knees, another bad idea the ground was still wet from last night and so the water went straight through my pajamas.

"Hey mama" I giggled as tears went down my face "I did what always told me not to, I sat down in wet grass mama" I wiped the tears away furiously but more still fell

"So merry Christmas mama" I choked "What does it look like in heaven, I know I ask every time but I just keep wishing you would somehow tell me you know?" I smiled through my tears "I know I haven't visited as often as I used to but I'm in college now all the way in California at Stanford mama so you know it makes it hard to come see you, but I'm still thinking of you, every day, every minute and second" I paused I think it's time I told my mother about Troy

"I met a boy mama, well I met him about a year and a half ago but I couldn't tell you, I just felt so bad I hadn't turned eighteen yet so it felt like I was doing something wrong because I loved him nearly as much as I loved you, I'm sorry mama but you probably already knew from up there in heaven right. I don't know why I didn't just tell you. Maybe one day you'll meet him and see that he's perfect. He's got these blue eyes, ones that can see through me, he saw through me on the first day we met, no one but you can do that not even Daddy sometimes. Then he has this smile even though he smirks most of the time, which is kind of sexy but if he knew that he's head would explode. He's a lil on the arrogant side of life you see. But Mama you would love him, he'd charm you the same way he done charmed me and Grandma Gina, Maybe next time I visit I'll bring him, Merry Christmas Mama" I stopped on my little rant about Troy and started wiping any dirt off her stone, I didn't have any flowers, shops weren't open at nine o'clock on Christmas morning around here so I just made sure her grave looked as tidy as it could. I stayed there for a little while until my wet trousers got too cold for me to handle when I got up to turn and leave the graveyard.

Troy was right when he said it did get easier, because it did these days I didn't completely break down like I used to whenever I came to visit the graveyard, sure the tears were still there but I'd finally accepted and let go of the anger in my heart. I could finally move on, I decided to phone Troy because I hadn't given him his Christmas present yet and I knew he was going to love what I'd got him.

"Merry Christmas Baby" He yawned into the phone as I giggled, he like most people was still in bed

"Merry Christmas boo, did I wake you?" I asked settling into my car

"Kinda but it don't matter, I can hear my Dad and Grandparent down stairs"

"Okay well before you go say hi, I want to come drop off your Christmas present" I said as I started up the car

"Okay… wait are you driving while talking to me?" concerning oozing out of his voice,

"not yet…" I started

"Taylorrr" He moaned, I could tell he was wide awake now

"okay okay, just meet me at the top of your street in ten minutes" I smiled

"Okay okay but this better be worth it" He moaned

"Oh but I'm always worth" I laughed as I hung up before he got a chance to smart comment me back, I had to have the last word once in a while. I threw my phone on the passenger seat and drove up to meet him, I loved this time of year when the streets were silent and empty, I felt bad for ruining the perfection with the sound of my car. I parked up and waited I was a couple of minutes early and Troy was never late and like he'd said he was there two minutes later in a pair of sweats and his winter coat. He'd walked; I guess he didn't want to disturb the peace either; I leaned over and opened the passenger seat for him to climb in.

"Merry Christmas baby" I smiled leaning over to kiss him softly on his lips "Does your Dad know you're gone?" I asked stroking his cheek

"No I snuck out… so where my goodies at baby?" He smirked

"And you called me a baby last night" I replied rolling my eyes as I leaned backwards to get the bag from the back seat

"It's not wrapped that's why I didn't give it to you last night" handing him the bag nervously

"That's okay baby, I can't wait to see what's inside" He smirked looking at me and wiggling his eyebrows

"Well look inside!" I hurried him as he took a peek in the bag and looked slightly confused I smirked expecting this reaction

"Look on the back" I urged as he nodded and pulled out the Lakers jersey in the bag, I got it signed by the whole L.A. Lakers squad a couple of weeks ago

"what the… Taylor… How?" I watched on as he stuttered and sat satisfied

"Kobe dropped into the café I work, you know where I got my new job in town a month back and I happened to be the one who served him, we hit it off and he asked me to tutor his little sister for this exam when he found out I was a genius in the science department, I agreed and mentioned I have this amazing boyfriend whose was a huge fan of the team and he agreed to sign this shirt for you. So I met up with him and he had and he'd even got the whole squad to sign it too, oh look at the bottom of the bag there's more" I smirked knowing this was going to make him go crazy

"Two season tickets for courtside seats!" He screamed as I laughed

"Shhh, you'll wake whole neighborhood! Yeah he threw those in when his sister aced the exam" I shrugged like it was nothing, I didn't want him to know I freaked out more than he was when I saw the gifts or when I got to serve Kobe.

"Oh my Gosh Taylor! Thank you so much, I just don't know what to say… I knew I should have applied for a job where you work" He smirked as I shook my head. He leaned over and kissed me softly over and over again.

"So where were you this morning, your all wet" He asked as he looked at my muddy trousers

"I went to say happy Christmas to my mother and I forgot it had rained over night… I told her about you, said next time I'd bring you with me so I could introduce you" I smiled, I never talked about my mother with Troy, after that time at the cliff I'd change the subject everytime he brought it up. He was very open about his mum to me, but then again he'd had almost nine years to get used to it, I was still trying to figure out how to cope with my loss.

"Really?" He asked seriously

"Yeah, I thought it was about time right?" I smirked as he nodded agreeing with me

"Yeah, I thought I was going to have to wait until we get married for that to happen" He smirked leaning over and leaning his forehead on mine "Thank you for that Tay, I know how hard it must have been"

"I just needed to do it for us, you know I know how you've been stepping on egg shells when it comes to that topic, and sometimes you might have to but I'm ready to let you into every part of my life" I smiled

"thank you Tay, it means a lot to me" he smiled before kissing me forehead

That was our Christmas, in my car with wet clothes and each other for comfort, we both had to leave because we knew it wouldn't take long for our families to realize we weren't sleeping in. I gave him a ride home and drove home myself; I was freezing and needed to get out of those wet pajamas quickly before I caught a cold.

Christmas went pretty much the same way it did every year, we went to church in the morning, and we opened the gifts straight after church once my grandparents on my mother's side had arrived in the afternoon. As usual my mum's mother had knitted me a scarf, I smile and said thank you knowing it was going to go on the heap at the bottom of my closet, it would make the usual trip out of the closet on our annual trips to visit her in New York and go straight back on top of the heap along with all the scarves she'd knitted the pervious Christmases. I received a new blackberry from my Dads parents, the hilarious thing was it was the downgrade from my current blackberry, but of course I'd use it for a month before swapping it back with my own one and then take it out every time I saw them. My father gave me a $1000 check because he didn't know what to buy me seeing as he gotten me a car just over seven months earlier. I finally got to Troy's gift, still in the bag he'd put it in, I smiled as I nervously pulled out one of two packages. I knew my family was watching on expectedly.

I pulled out the first neatly wrapped present, a box smaller in size than the one in the still in the bag. I delicately untapped each of the corners that he'd tapped down, making sure I didn't ruin the wrapping paper. I gently opened the wrapping paper that covered the box and there lay a black velvet box, slightly larger than an ordinary jewelry box. I smiled and slowly opened it finding a white pearl necklace, the one I'd seen in `Tiffanys' jewelry store when Troy and I had gone shopping in L.A. but at the time neither of us could afford it or thought we ever would. I'd fallen in love with it and promised myself one day I'd buy one just like it if not the very same one, one day.

"He remembered" I whispered and smiled, I went on to open the larger box in the same manner and there lay another black box, just larger in size and not velvet. I wondered what lay underneath, I slowly opened in up and there it was. My very own pair of retro headphone, you know the one that look like speakers on your ear, only mine were purple. I smirked, only he would know that I wanted these so bad but I'd never expected them in purple, my favorite color. Troy had them in black and he'd refused to let me touch them saying they didn't make them like his anymore and he couldn't risk my clumsy hands accidently breaking them. I'd cussed him for weeks on end about those head phones, but now I had my very own pair.

'**Only you xxx'** read the text I sent him as soon as I got a moment to myself that night, in between all the family games and opening of presents

'**Who else ;)x'** was his reply knowing exactly what I meant, he'd got me Christmas presents that meant only we would ever know their true meaning because to everyone else it was an expensive pearl necklace and a pair of purple headphones, to me it showed he cared about what I wanted and wasn't some clueless boyfriend who would get me perfume because he didn't know what to get me. I loved the way he liked keeping our relationship strictly between us even with simple things like presents.


	19. Michelle

**UPDATE!!!!!!!! Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, I tried to make this chapter extra long for you guys and haven't had time to spell check because its late and I'm on holiday right but I know I haven't updated in a while so I thought I owed you guys. Read and Review and I've got another Traylor story coming out soon so what out for that one! THANK YOU AGAIN.**

It's safe to say I had an amazing Christmas, minus all the kissing drama. Troy and I had got to an amazing place in our relationship and it seemed even better than it had ever been even before the Christmas dramas. Our worlds just seemed to fall so perfectly in sync with each other these days and the trust issues we seemed to be having after Christmas were slowly disappearing. Gabby and I were currently driving up to see the boys and again we were going over there a day early because we'd managed to hand our assignments in before the weekend. We had literally killed ourselves this week, balancing school work and our jobs as well as putting talking to Troy and Chad into both our schedules. It had been crazy but so worth it. We found out that we had Monday off school and were welcoming the extra day we had to spend with the boys. This time the surprise was going to go according to plan, I hoped.

I stood nervously next to Gabby as she knocked on the boy's apartment door,

"Do you think they're in?" I asked

"Yep, I talked to Chad earlier he said they were planning to stay in and play video games" she replied rolling her eyes, I smiled and nodded, what was taking them so long to answer the door. Gabby rang the bell again as I shifted from one foot to the other. I heard footsteps and breathed a sigh of relief to know our trip hadn't been completely wasted.

"SURPRISE" we shouted as Chad popped his head round the door, before smiling and opening the door wider to let us in. We both tackled him into a tight hug, Chad and I had grown really close over the past few months and had gone past our constant fighting stage. Turned out we had a lot in common and we enjoyed each other's company, with or without the arguments. He was like a male best friend to me these days.

"I love your surprises!" He laughed "So do we have food again like last time?" He questioned wiggling his eyebrows as he shut the door behind us.

"Danforth is that all we're worth? Free Friday night take out" I questioned poking his chest as he smiled

"Oh come on Tay! We both know Gabby means more than food to me, wish I could say the same about you" he teased as a hurt expression came across my face and clutched my chest

"Ouch Danforth you cut me deep there!" I replied "Now where's my baby?" I asked pushing past him and further into the house so him and his fiancé could finally embrace each other freely

"He's in his room working on a project with Michelle" He replied as I nodded before quickly exchanging looks with Gabby, who was Michelle? I wasn't jealous or anything but last time he was studying with a girl his tongue ended up down her throat and I know I'd been working on the whole trust issue, so I guess this was a test.

"Okay well I'm gonna go in and say hi" I smiled and approached the door somewhat cautiously, I knew Troy would never cheat on me… but the memories of the last time were still in the back of mind taunting me. I heard the girl in the room giggle and I rolled my eyes, there was no way I was going to stand out here while this strange giggling girl was in there with my boyfriend of almost two years if you count our unofficial months. I turned the handle and pushed the door open gently poking my head round the door first.

"Surprise" I whispered as my eyes landed on my boyfriend who was seated by his computer, with this brunette leaning over his shoulder, her face slightly too close to his. Both heads turned around as I placed my body awkwardly in the gap between the door and the wall still holding on the door handle. She was the girl from that night, I remembered her long brown hair and green eyes and it wasn't long before my smile faded.

"Baby!" Troy smiled getting up from his chair and rushing over enveloping me in a very tight hug, my arms stayed hanging by his side "You aren't meant to be here till tomorrow morning" he breathed into my ear, I nodded my head and gave him a small smile as he let go of my tense body and held me at arms length.

"Gabby and I thought we should try the whole surprise thing again" I sighed "looks like it was a bad idea… again" I whispered looking at the girl over his shoulder

"No babe it's not like that… Michelle this is my girlfriend Taylor" He beckoned the beautiful girl over

"Hey Troy has told me so much about you" she smiled holding out her hand for me to shake, I reluctantly accepted it "So glad to finally meet you, you really are as beautiful as he says you are" she chimed throwing me a seemingly genuine smile, I smiled back and nodded

"Thank you" I replied forcing a smile as I let go of her hand, an awkward silence fell between the three of us before Michelle spoke again

"Well I guess I better be going it's getting late and I'm sure you guys want to spend some time together, it was nice to meet you Taylor" she smiled as I nodded "Thanks for helping me out with the work Troy" She smiled "I'll see myself out"

"No problem chelle" so they were on nick names now? Why hadn't he mentioned her to me earlier because from what I was seeing they were pretty close friends? He had become 'best friends' with the girl he'd kissed, how was that even logical in his brain, no wonder he'd chose to keep secret from me.

"Here, I'll walk you to the door" He said briefly glancing at my reaction which remained blank, before following her to the door. I remained stood where I was contemplating on what my reaction should be, did I have a right to be angry after all it was an innocent study date right? But it was with the girl he'd kissed, I was sure of that, why would he even risk keeping in contact with her.

"chelle?" I questioned with raised eye brows when Troy returned to the door of his room

"Taylor it's not like that" He started, taking my hand and leading me further into his room

"You already said that so why don't you tell me why you're all 'buddy buddy' with the girl you kissed a few months ago!" I questioned trying to keep my voice down, it seemed like Chad and Gabby had the perfect relationship and Troy and I were the crazy dysfunctional pair. Even Zeke and Pay weren't as unstable as us. It seemed like we only ever lasted a few months at the most before another drama came our way and frankly I was getting tired of it. I thought we were past the drama by now, like seriously Chad and Gabby were approaching two and half years together now and the biggest drama they faced so far was a few girls hitting on Chad in the mall but he'd set them straight as soon as they even got into his gravity and that was the end of that.

"She needed my help Taylor, she's behind on work" he replied

"Well maybe if she kept her eyes in her books instead of other people's men then maybe she wouldn't be behind" I muttered as I flopped into his computer chair

"Come on Tay, what did you want me to say no?" he asked pulling the chair I was in toward his bed where he was seated

"YES!" I huffed "Yes Troy that is what I wanted to say" I replied looking down

"Taylor come on! You would never say no to anyone who asked you for help, you can't be serious" he sighed

"Well if I was tutoring the boy who I kissed in front you, you wouldn't be saying that!" I countered pulling my hand away from his

"Oh so that's what this is about" he sighed "Baby I thought we were past that now?" he whispered

"We are, but that doesn't mean you go and become best friends with her! Plus it doesn't help that she looks straight off an Italian cat walk" I sighed "You have to see where I'm coming from on this one Troy" I replied looking at him

"I get what you're saying Tay, I do but you have to trust me and I only have eyes for you and she knows that! You're all I talk about… ever because you're the best thing in my life right now why would I want to mess that up again, I'd have to be completely crazy. Anyway why would I want an Italian model when I've got my very own beautiful African American model, everyone knows they have more ass" He winked bending down to kiss me

"And I'm all about the ass baby" He continued in-between the kisses, making me come around

"Troy I'm being serious!" I pouted pushing him away

"C'mon baby, nothing is going on between us I swear"

"But I don't feel comfortable with you and her being 'friends' or 'study buddies 'or whatever it is you want to call it given your history" I sighed

"what history? You're saying it like we had a full blown affair Taylor, I kissed her once"

"Yeah and don't remind me Troy" I replied rolling my eyes "seriously I don't like and you can't blame me either and anyway if it's all so innocent like you say then why didn't you tell you two were 'hanging out'?" I questioned

"because we weren't 'hanging out' Taylor, she needed help with her work and she asked me and I couldn't say no, one of the things I picked up from you!"

"Well un pick it up, saying no is easy see NO, NO, NO see Troy if I can do it then so can you" I sighed, he didn't get that having a beautiful girl hanging around your boyfriend isn't always the best idea, especially one he's kissed

"I don't mean to sound like a crazy jealous controlling girlfriend but if it was any other girl Troy it would be fine but it's not it her, you have to see where I'm coming from with this, you kissed her! What if you we argue again and she'd there and you kiss her again? I want to believe that you won't but if your with her then it makes that much harder can't you see that?" I explained "Did I mention she's the definition of gorgeous?" I smirked relaxing a bit

"Did I mention my girlfriend is gorgeouser? But baby listen if you want me to stay away from her than of course I will" He finished leaning his forehead on mine "It's no skin off my back, I'll do whatever makes you happy so just say the word okay baby?"

"I don't know… well I do but I trust you Troy, don't make me regret it" I whispered closing my eyes "I don't think I could take the pain and 'gorgeouser' isn't a word dumbass" I sighed as he wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me toward him and off the chair I was currently seated on.

"I wouldn't dream of making you regret it Taylor" He whispered as he continued to pull me onto his bed with him and falling backward. I straddled my legs around his waist as he fell back onto the bed.

"Glad to hear that" I whispered bending down to cover his face in kisses

"I think I'm going to like this surprise" He smirked as she pulled me down and in one swift move he flipped me over so that he was now on top of me, pushing himself up slightly with his left elbow, he used his other hand to trace the shaped of my nose.

"I missed you baby" He whispered pecking my nose "you have no idea how much"

"I think I can imagine just how much" I replied grabbing his shirt and pulling him down before kissing him passionately "I missed you more I think, I didn't have hot Italian models keeping me occupied" I smirked

"I should hope not either" He replied as he stole one last kiss before rolling over and laying next to me, using his right hand to pull me close to his chest where my head rested

"So how's my little lawyer doing up there in her smart people school" He whispered into my hair

"She's doing okay I suppose, she handed her work in early this week to come and surprise her boyfriend" I replied looking up at him "I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could, oh that reminds me I got good news" I smiled

"What is it?" He asked

"We got Monday off school, so we get to spend an extra day here"

"That's great babe, I only got one class in the morning this Monday so we have the whole afternoon till you guys have to go back" He smiled as I nodded and snuggled closer into his embrace before remembering we had food waiting for us

"Good. But come one Gabby and I bought us some Indian on the way here and we don't want Chad eating it all before we get there" I sighed getting up and pulling him up with me

"You bought food and you didn't tell me" He said pulling my hand toward the door "And you left it with Chad!" he exclaimed as he intertwined his hand with mine and rushed me down the hall way

"Babe slow down, Gabby will have made sure we have food" I explained laughing at him, boys and their food "And if not I'll cook us up something quickly okay" I soothed rubbing his arms up and down with my free hand, he paused just outside the kitchen and smiled at me

"I love you, you know that right" He stated looking deeply into my eyes, I nodded and smiled

"I know baby, come you're hungry lets go eat" I smiled pulling him into the kitchen where Chad and Gabby were currently feeding each other food, as cute as it was to watch we were hungry I was not in the mood for romantics

"guys cut it out, we're trying to eat here and intend on keeping our food down" I teased as I grabbed Troy and I's boxes of take away and fixed us some drinks

Gabby smirked and stuck her tongue out at me "Whatever Tay, you're just jealous!"

"Nah ah not of that pom pom lunkhead I'm not" I smiled

"Hey leave my baby alone" she replied

"yeah Taylor, stop being mean" Chad added from her side as I rolled my eyes

"Shall we go and watch a movie now we're all here?" I suggested

"Yeah, Tay and I rented some DVDs for the weekend form blockbusters. We got the Notebook obviously" She said as the boys groaned because we always rented that movie whenever we went to blockbusters "And we got a few comedies for you guys, there in the bag but I vote we watch the notebook first" she smirked

"What's new?" Chad muttered under his breathe

"Shut up Chad, and I second that vote" I smiled "looks like that's settled" I shrugged heading out of the kitchen

"How? Troy and I vote against so it's a tie!" Chad protested as I turned around and looked at Troy with a mischievous smirk on my face

"Troy baby, did you vote against me?" I asked putting on my famous pout, the one I knew he couldn't resist

"Troy man stay strong don't look at her" Chad pleaded with his best friend but the damage was already down, Troy looked at me one more time before sighing defeated

"I'm watching whatever my baby wants" He smiled getting up and following me as I stuck my tongue out at Chad

"Man! You are so whipped!" Chad moaned as Gabby and I laughed

"Yeah but you're engaged" Troy replied as we all settled on to the couches "You need to get used to doing what she wants or you'll have hell to pay" He smirked at the boy on the opposite couch who had just pulled Gabriella onto his lap

"Trust me I know what my baby wants all the time and I never disappoint" He replied winking at Gabby, there was never a truer statement. Chad worshiped the ground Gabriella walked on and he would do anything for her, anybody who knew them could see that.

"Aww Chad that's so sweet" I cooed as I placed the DVD into the player "Maybe Troy should try taking a leap out of your book" I teased as I walked back to mine and Troy's couch where I was quickly pulled onto the couch by him

"I don't give you what you want huh?" He teased tickling me causing me to giggle

"T…T…Troy stop!" I pleaded in between laughs

"Not until you I'm the greatest most bestest boyfriend ever who gives you everything you want and more" He stated as he continued to tickle me

"No, bestest isn't even a real word dumbass" I replied laughing "Troy stop please my stomach hurts" I squealed

"Not until you say it Tay" He shrugged

"But-"

"Say it!" he growled

"okay okay! I'll say it!" I giggled "Troy is the greatest most bestest boyfriend ever who gives me everything you want and more" I giggled as he stopped

"Aww I didn't know you thought that about me baby" He smirked pecking my nose as he pulled me close to chest as pressed play on the remote

"you're a jerk" I whispered

"Hmm Hmm I know, but I'm your favourite Jerk" He winked leaning down to kiss me one more time before we settled down to watch the film. As I snuggled into Troy's chest I thought about today's events for once I was happy that we hadn't made a big drama about the whole 'Michelle' situation like we usually would about those kinds of situations. We'd talked it out like adults and then got over it, I guess we'd passed the test not to mention matured as a couple. This was a huge leap in our relationship and as I sat there listening to the beat of his heart I knew we both realized the progress we had made. Contentment filled my heart that night and I was excited to see what the future held in store for us and whether we'd survive college, I knew if we did we could survive anything.

That was one of the most relaxing weekends I'd ever spent with Troy, we hang out playing video games in his room or watching DVDs with Gabriella and Chad. We'd go out for lunch or dinner if we felt like it but for the most part we were just happy spending time together. I didn't let Michelle ruin our weekend because I knew I'd have to leave him with her in a few days, luckily they were supposed to drive up to us next weekend. It was Monday afternoon and almost time for us to leave the boys.

"I have to leave in an hour" I pouted as I walked into Troy's room and jumped on his bed where he was laying

"I know baby" he smiled kissing my forehead and pulling his cover over me so we could snuggle underneath the cover

"Are you going to miss me?" I asked pulling myself closer to him

"Babe what kind of question is that?" He laughed looking down at me

"I don't know…" I sighed

"Is the Michelle thing still bugging you?" Why did he know me so well

"Kind of… like I don't want you to stop talking to her well I do but not because of me, because of you"

"Well if you're unhappy then I'm unhappy so yeah I am doing this for me okay, for us. I don't like arguing with you and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize what we now have okay, I promise just please trust me"

"I do babe I do… well I'm working on it I swear that's why I'm not like making a huge deal about it but if I'm honest the insecurities are still there Troy" I pouted as he sat himself up on his elbows pulling me up with him and looking at me intensely, I know I'd hurt him when I said that but relationships are based on honest and I was just being honest about how I felt.

"But I thought we'd got past that now It been like almost four months since it all happened and we've been good babe"

"I know that but like I hadn't seen her again in those months and like seeing you and her together in your room it just made me feel sick" I admitted

"Wow, I didn't realize you felt like that, why didn't you tell me it was that bad earlier?"

"Because we had actually talked about our problems for once instead of argued and we were having such a good weekend I didn't want it, I though the feeling would just go away"

"Taylor I really don't know what to do to make you trust me completely like I thought we were good and now you're telling me we could be better like it's a big deal and you're leaving in what an hour?" His tone was quickly turning and I wasn't sure I liked where it was going

"Troy it's okay, it's not that big of a deal" I didn't particularly want to fight with him in our last few hours together

"My girlfriend doesn't trust me and it's not a big deal?" He half shouted getting out of the bed and rubbing a hand over his face "Taylor what do you want me to do? Because I don't know what to do anymore! I can't seem to make you happy anymore!" I sat there surprised at the sudden outburst

"Troy I was just telling you how I feel okay isn't that what we do in relationships?" I replied hoping out the bed and walking towards him "if you're mad because I'm being honest then I'm just going to leave and you can go do whatever it is you do with your 'study buddy' okay because for some reason you are seriously tripping, call me when you're ready to talk about this properly"

"Taylor don't even try and turn this around, you're the one with problem and you just want to walk away because I'm pissed off! YOU don't trust me! How did you think I'd react?" He shouted throwing his hands in the air

"You know what I'm not trying to do this today okay" I replied opening the door

"Fine run away like you always do and then I'll chase you like I always do!" He shouted as I was about to shut the door, I paused and push the door back open, my eyes brimming with tears

"Then don't make me walk away" I whispered looking at him before slowly walking away and hearing him slam his door shut.

I went to my room and grabbed my bags, Chad and Gabby were having lunch out and should be coming back anytime now, but I decided to wait for her in my car after putting her bags in the back. This wasn't good but then again it wouldn't be me and Troy if we didn't have an argument over nothing, well this wasn't nothing but you know what I mean. Some part of me was beginning to question whether this was worth it any more if this is all we were going to be but I'd given so much of myself to Troy now that I just didn't have it in me to let go of us.

"Ugh!" I screamed slamming my wheel with my hand before my head rested on it, when was Gabriella going to get here so we could leave this cursed place.

"Taylor?" I heard someone knock on my window and looked up, sighing before I rolled down the window

"Yes?" I asked meeting his blue eyes

"Listen I'm sorry for freaking out but it sucks that you don't trust me Taylor" He said leaning into the car window "Can you come out so I can talk to you properly please?" I nodded as he opened the door and helped me out

"Troy it's not that I don't trust you but don't you see just how sucky this whole situation is like your 'hanging out' with the girl I saw you kiss of course I'm going to feel insecure about it any girl would" I sighed as he pulled me closer to him

"I know but I just didn't see it that way okay I didn't think about it that way okay I'm a guy and we're inconsiderate like that sometimes I'm sorry babe okay and sorry that it ruined the weekend" He smiled down at me

"I know baby, I know" I sighed wrapping my arms around his neck "I do trust you like seriously but it just like it was her Troy, you know? I'm sorry if you felt your efforts went unnoticed because I know how hard you've been trying since it happened and look how far we've got since then, it's better than we've ever been like ever! So I can see that Troy and I appreciate it babe okay I really do and I love you for it" I smirked pulling myself up on my tiptoes and kissing his lips softly

"I love you Taylor okay and I just hope that's enough because right now that's all I've got" He sighed as he pulled me close into a tight hug

"It's always been enough" I whispered into his ear as we stood there in the embrace for a few more minutes not noticing that Gabby and Chad had pulled up a few minutes earlier.

"I hate to interrupt you guys but Tay and I need to go" Gabby chimed from behind Troy as he groaned causing me to laugh

"Sorry babe but she's right" I said gently pushing him away

"I know I just wish you didn't" He pouted as I smirked and kissed him one last time before letting go and going to hug Chad goodbye while Gabby said bye to Troy and we climbed into our respective seats in the car.

"I love you" I whispered as Troy pushed my door shut leaning his head on the window as he placed his hand on the window

"I love you too" He mouthed as he patted the window and I pulled out of the drive as him and Chad stood there and watched us pull away waving.

"You and Troy had a good weekend huh?" She smiled from the passenger

"Yeah" I sighed

"I'm so happy that you guys are good again like I know it was hard after the Christmas dramas but you guys are going to make it, I just know it" she smiled as I nodded agreeing with her

"I know we are, just sometimes forever doesn't feel so close" I admitted looking at her briefly before turning my head back to the road "You and Chad just have it all worked out and you always have, I just wonder whether we'll ever get to that stage"

"Taylor you guys were at that stage long before Chad and I were, I mean I'm not sure we'd survive everything you guys have, we can't compare our relationships because we're different people. Chad and I don't argue because… well we don't, it's not us we just get each other and we always have from the beginning that's just lucky for us, you know?" She paused

"You and Troy are two hot heads madly in love with each other and because of that you clash sometimes but that's part of the beauty of your love, your both as stubborn as each other and neither of you wants to be the one in the wrong so you argue about stupid and you feel insecure about certain things but that's okay because none of you will ever let go of each other and in your own crazy way you're made for each other" She finished

"Aww Gabby thanks for that, I've been stressing out for the longest about whether we're going to be okay or not you know? So thank you Gabby I'm glad you believe in us, so are you excited about the wedding? You're going to be Mrs. Danforth in like four months"

The rest of the drive was spent planning the rest of her wedding, discussing the goofy things the boys had said and done over the weekend, wondering what crazy things Sharpay was forcing Zeke to do lately and of course how school was going for both of us. We just couldn't wait for the summer in a couple of months so we could have a long break from that place not to mention the upcoming wedding. They were planning on honeymooning in St. Lucia, they had wanted to go to Jamaica but some of Chad's family was there so they decided against that. Gabriella's Dad had paid for it as an early wedding gift, they couldn't wait and neither could I, I hadn't been to a wedding since I was twelve.

"Hey baby, we made it back safely" I chimed into the phone when he picked up

"And you're earlier than usual too, were you speeding again?" He laughed knowing I had been

"Me? Speed? Never!" I giggled "However I have been missing you a little bit"

"You have no idea how much" He added

"I know babe I know but I was just checking in with you then Gabby and I are about to hit the sack, we're exhausted!" I yawned

"Okay babe, I'll call you tomorrow night after practice or something okay?"

"Okay I'll talk to you then, I love you" I whispered

"I love you too baby, night" He replied hanging up the phone. I stared at my phone for a while before placing it on my bedside table and cuddling into my covers.


End file.
